REwrite: Adam
by UninstallMe
Summary: That God called me an Old Soul, reborn into this new world to pay for the sins I committed before... I wish I knew what I did. He said my new life would be one filled with broken shards, he was right. I have nothing but a name that was not mine, a body that I did not own, a mind breaking apart, and a wish... My name is Adam Taurus, and I will REwrite my Tragedy. (SIOC as Adam)
1. Log 1: The Old Soul

**Warning: This work is rated T for a reason; there is Violence, Blood, Angst, and the mention of serious topics like racism and mental illness that merit this rating. This work of Fanfiction will never have any material that would send it over the edge to an M rating like Lemons or highly descriptive scenes of violence.**

**UPDATE 2/21/2020: This chapter has been Beta Read by the wonderful ****RoyalBlueRoses.**

**Hello, and welcome to my second Fanfic.**

**RWBY is a show that, although I don't consider perfect, I still hold as one of my dearests. The world of Remnant and the people that live in it are some of the stories I am more fascinated with, especially one Faunus in particular.**

**Adam is a character that I loved through Vol 1 to 3 but then he seemed to be transformed into a new character entirely, and I was left craving more of that morally grey warrior of the Faunus. **

**With this work, I want to visit the question of, was Adam nature to be evil, or was he nurtured into the role? Would another soul that has to live through his life take the same path of destruction, or would he be able to be saved? **

**Without further ado, here is the first chapter of REwrite: Adam.**

**I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do love writing it.**

**Oh, and I don't own RWBY!**

**Enjoy!**

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**Season 1: The Prologue To Tragedy**

**Episode 1: Lost Soul**

**Unknown – Unknown – Unknown**

Can a life be rewritten? Can a tragedy have a happy ending?

It bloomed like a flower in the dawn. A red-tinted spiral that drove itself beneath the flesh, inside the bone.

Into my mind.

Into my brain.

Pain was its name.

The confusion came along for the ride; I felt a puncturing, aching sensation in the back of a head that didn't feel quite like mine. Lungs unknown to me breathed the scented air of pines trees that cooled blood that wasn't mine.

An alien body.

Mine, yet not.

Blades of grass grazed the back of my ears; some tickled my nape. I was laying down on the ground, paralyzed by the utter feeling of dissociation that slithered inside this flesh that was mine, yet it felt wrong, small, delicate.

The aching pain came back in force; I felt it stabbing me in the back of my head, where a particularly sharp stone kept digging into my flesh. It was that pain that finally made me move, even when I was terrified of doing so.

My arms were wrong, so short and weak, my legs so chubby and directionless, I sat on the ground as I stared at those short shoeless feet I couldn't recognize, but that were clearly connected to my frame.

One of my, oh, so small hands went behind me and touched the spot where it hurt, I gasped at the sting a simple touch generated, and when those fingers came back into my view, they were drenched in a warm crimson liquid.

Blood.

Blood was dripping from that hand.

From my hand.

"I see you are finally awake, old soul," said a voice from behind me that sounded more like the scraping of mountains against a storm than like a man.

I turned around too fast and felt disoriented, the body I was in control of felt so alien to me that it was hard to gauge movement, I lost my balance, and I began to tilt to the side. Still, before I could go further, I was seized by bony fingers that grabbed me around my waist and hauled me to the air.

Before I knew it, they deposited me onto a bench. Beside me sat a man that looked like he was older than history itself, his body had atrophied, leaving only pale, leathery flesh surrounding old bones covered by simple clothes, he was ashen and marred as if the rivers of life had carved all its stories through his face.

He held a gentle smile, and his eyes were tightly closed as if the wrinkles had enclosed them.

Yet, I knew they were looking at me.

And I couldn't hold his gaze.

Instead, my vision toured through my surroundings; we sat in a bench in what appeared to be the backyard of a small, one-floor cabin with a chimney that spewed little puffs of smoke now and then. A square fence surrounded us with only a pine tree to give us shade.

"You must be rather confused right now," the old man said, and I finally braved his gaze to look at him.

His gentle smile was gone.

His eyes were slightly open, and I felt the weight of those black holes that glared back at me and made my tiny body tremble like a leaf.

"I have been waiting for you to awaken for the last five years," he said.

"A- awaken?" I asked, with the voice that didn't sound like mine but rather like the one of a child. Adrenaline was pouring down my veins now, and it felt as if there were two minds inside my head trying to take over the other, a child cried loudly in the back of my skull, a man breathed harshly in the front of my mind.

"You died five years ago." The old man said without a hint of pity. "After a lifetime of unpunished sin, you went away on a peaceful night in your old age with a grin on your face thinking I wouldn't punish you." The weight of his eyes increased, making my shoulders sag, and my heart skip a beat.

I wished to run; I pushed myself off the bench and leaped into the ground, but the floor wasn't as close as I imagined, I went down into the grass and the dirt with my uncoordinated limbs tangling with each other.

"It will take you some time before you become accustomed to this new body. I recommend you try to do it fast. This new life won't be like your old one."

I turned on the ground to look at him, using my arms to hold my chest up.

"W- who are you?"

"I'm the god of the world you came from. You can call me, Keeper," he said, his eyes filled with disgust as he watched. He sighed and stopped glaring at me to look up to the sky before he continued talking, "This new life is both your punishment and your chance to redeem yourself, old soul."

"I don't understand, w- what do you mean?" I said.

It was hard to think with the aching pain in the back of my head screaming at me, my stomach grumbled from hunger, and my bowels demanded that I went to the bathroom. My vision clouded, and I blinked to try and clear it out only to discover that tears were dancing over my cheeks.

My mind was overloaded with all the new sensations of this child-like body, with only the help of an infantile brain that couldn't keep up. I started crying while I kept rubbing my knuckles against my face in a vain attempt to stop the tears from falling.

"This is not the world either of us came from." The old man clutched a leaf in his hand. "It is broken, abandoned… A Remnant. Yet, it is still filled with hope. I have given you a new life, one destined with pain, suffering, and early death. It will be your choice if you will accept that path written for you, or if you will deny it and surpass it."

I failed to control my bowels as my heart beat faster and faster, my lungs couldn't keep a lungful of air, and pathetic whimpers kept lashing out of my lips. "W- wh- why!"

The old man chuckled. "How far have the mighty have fallen." Poison dripped from his words as he spoke, "You are a sinner, but one I believe could redeem himself, it will be entirely you that decides if you will allow the darkness of this world to shape you into another monster, or if you will rise above it."

"I don't want to!" I yelled.

"You do not have a choice," he said before he groaned and stood up from the bench, dusting the back of his pants and then stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Now that you are finally awake, it is time for me to leave for now. Remember that the story of this world is already written, but you are from outside it; you control your own destiny. You are not the same soul as the one that should have lived in that body. Do not make the same mistakes it would have."

He walked around me, going toward the pine tree, but I grasped him by his pants with one pleading hand. "Please don't leave! I don't understand!"

He gazed down at me with something akin to pity dancing for the first time in his wrinkled eyes. "Good luck, One that is not, yet it is… Adam Taurus."

As he said that name, the old man's body and clothes turned gray like a stone before he crumbled into dust that was swept by a breeze that wasn't there seconds ago.

Only a piece of the cloth that had made up his khaki pants remained between my clenched fingers.

I stared at the tree, holding onto that piece for dear life. My heart was bleeding down my ribs. My mind was leaking out.

I cried, letting my voice carry out so many emotions that were known to my soul but alien to my young body that only felt more confused and scared as I wept.

"Adam!?" a woman's voice called out that name from the cabin's door, I heard its hinges whine as someone ran toward me. "Baby, what's wrong?"

Calloused hands grasped my wrists and pulled my arms away from my face; I tried resisting, but the woman quickly overpowered me without effort, and I watched a face that although I couldn't recognize it, it felt familiar.

My body soothed itself under the gaze of her blue eyes, so unknown yet so familiar. The fear and the panic beating in my heart died down, that gulp of air stuck in my throat finally fell in my starved lungs, and I could do nothing else but watch her.

I don't know if she would be considered beautiful, but to my eyes, she was an angel.

Her face was too circular for the slim neck that held it, crowned by wild, long brown locks of hair that fell around her shoulders and grazed the myriad of freckles that tinted her pale skin. She towered like a giant over me, even as she sat there in front of me, yet the hands around my wrist were almost as slim as mine; the fingers around me were so slender but so calloused that just a faint brush against my skin felt like she was scratching me.

I didn't know this woman, but only her appearance was enough to calm me down and let the childish portion of my brain stop panicking long enough for my older mind to take over.

She glanced down at my stained pants and smiled. "Oh Baby, you are too big to be doing this, don't ya think?" she chuckled and went to hug me, embracing me, her slim arms pressing my head against her chest.

I felt her hand brush over the injury on my head, and I whimpered.

"What?" she said, before she pressed her palm against my wound, making me flinch and a sob run out of my mouth, the woman rose her hand and gasped when she found it stained with my blood. "Oh gods, Adam, baby!"

She pulled me up in her arms, smothering my face against her shoulder lovingly to the point that I couldn't see where we were going as she ran, but I didn't care.

Her clothes smelled of burnt wood and her skin like sugar cane, so conflicting of a scent, yet so…

Enticing.

I don't know if it was either the blood loss or the sense of comfort, but it didn't matter, not a second after we crossed the portal to the woman's home, I lost the battle of my consciousness and closed my eyes.

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**Unknown – Unknown – Home?**

I was currently having trouble trying to think.

Although my mind seemed to be the one of someone much older than my body may suggest, my brain didn't seem to be capable of working at the same speed, like trying to run a sophisticated program in a computer that wasn't up the standards required for the job.

Headaches were frequent, but they were not my current issue.

The real issue was the swinging of that strange thing protruding from the back of the woman's backside.

We were in the cabin's little kitchen, a stew boiled in a pot that the woman was attending to with one hand, while her other held me firmly in place across her shoulder.

I knew this woman, Helena Taurus, was my body's mother, but it was hard to think of her as my mother.

Even if my body craved every opportunity to remain close to her.

I had awakened in this new world for only a total of two days, which I had spent mostly in bed, with my head covered with bandages and the woman loitering around me like a crow staring down at carrion.

I had not noticed the thing before but now…

The woman had a tail.

At first, I thought it was some sort of clothing or decoration that would give me an insight into this world, but then as Helena started humming, her tail began to swing side to side to the tone of the song.

It was a long skinny tail with a tuft of brown hair at its tip, the same color as Helena's mane.

I rested my cheek on Helena's shoulder and rose one of my hands up towards my red and brown hair. There laid another oddity that should bother me more yet only caused some mild curiosity.

I had horns.

Black, stubby horns that protruded from my skin just at the edges of my forehead and then slanted backward.

I grasped the left one with my fist, it felt like my teeth, and it was slightly warm. I pulled just a little bit and felt the tug right in my skull, pulling on it had become a habit that my older mind was getting worried about becoming an unhealthy habit, yet my young brain couldn't care less.

"Adam," Helena said before I felt her hand cover mine over my horn, "Stop yanking it, baby."

"Mama?"

"Mm-hm?" She pulled our hands away from my horn.

"Why do I have horns?" I asked, and she chuckled like the answer should have been obvious.

"Because you're a Faunus, Baby, just like Mama has a tail, you got those cute horns like your dad had."

"What's a Faunus?" I glanced at her over the edge of my blue eyes, noticing that she was stirring the pot and not looking at me, I took the chance and went back to pulling on my horn.

"Well, it's hard to explain, hmm." She left the ladle in the pot and tapped her chin as she thought for an answer, "We're people, like the doctor that came before to treat your head, right? But we Faunus are a tad more special."

"Special?"

"Yeh, Baby, since you're a bull Faunus, you one day are going to be the strongest boy in the village. Maybe even strong enough to break a bully's nose in one swoop! Though, I don't want other mothers to come here and yell at me about it." Helena giggled and walked away to the other side of the kitchen, she opened a wooden cabinet and took a cloth from it that she then used it to grab the handle of the stewing pot and pull it out of the fire while she still held me.

We left the kitchen and went to the tiny living room of our home. The cabin wasn't big, with only a kitchen, a living room, and the room Helena and I shared that had only one large bed and a tiny bathroom.

Yet, although our home was small, it was well maintained, making me believe we were not poor.

The living room was barren, with only a chimney, with a sofa in front of it. Helena dropped me gently on the couch then sat beside me, bringing me closer to her with her arm around me as she continued talking, "Faunus bear characteristics from certain animals, you, Adam, are a bull."

"A bull?" I repeated, and she nodded.

"Yes, a strong and mighty bull that one day is going to make mama prou-"

A bang startled us both, Helena covered me with her arms and sought out the source of the sound without avail, before the noise repeated itself more loudly.

Smothered by Helena, there was only a small crevice between her arm and her chest from which I could watch the front door tremble again as an unknown force knocked at it from the outside. "Mama, the door."

She flinched at it, and her skin grew paler than it was as her mouth hung open. She took one breath, her eyes seemed to try and look at anything but the door.

"Stay here, baby, I will get it, okay?" Helena said, then went towards the door.

But before she reached it, a final bang blew it open, and the poor wooden door just nearly came off its hinges as it banged against the side of the wall.

"Hello!" screamed a man's voice that was so high-pitched it made it sound like he had breathed helium, then three men came inside. All three were dressed in clean, white suits with red ties and a logo of a black star with twelve points on their breasts. The two men in the back were muscular and even taller than Helena, but the one leading in was a short blonde, thin like a twig.

"Helen, dearie! I haven't come to collect in years! How you doing on this fine day." the blonde asked, in a matter that made the question not sound like one.

Helena gulped before responding, "You were not supposed to come 'til the end of the month."

"Change of plans, dear, we're running on a tight schedule, you see." The man giggled before he tried to come deeper into the home, but Helena stood her ground in front of him, seemingly surprising him as he took a step back and his bodyguards one forward.

"I don't have the money, come at the end of the month, and I will pay." Helena crossed her arms, looking high and mighty from the front, but from my point of view, I saw her tail trembling.

"Ah, that would be quite, quite complicated."

The man laced his fingers and turned to the kitchen. "Mmm, it smells delicious! Quite meaty too, I didn't knew cows could eat each other… Anyway, you see, it's tough for us in the company to always protect everyone in the community without money, how could we defend you from the Grimm, Helen, if you can't pay for said service?"

"Grimm?" my younger brain asked out loud, and I cursed my curiosity.

In an instant, I had the attention of all the adults in the room, and I cowered on the couch. Helena looked worried, and the bodyguards disinterested but the blonde man…

He was beaming.

"Helen, dear! I didn't know you had a boy! Congratulations!" he said before Helena covered his view of me with her hand.

"Stay away from my child."

"But Helen, dear!" He went to walk around her, but Helena got on his way again, and he groaned in annoyance. "You know well what the company would do for you if you gave him to us, just use your damn head for a second, no more protection fees, and a steady income!"

"Adam," Helena called out to me.

Although she wasn't looking, I still nodded like an obedient son.

"Fetch me my bag," She said.

I leaped off the couch and ran toward our room, where Helena's leather purse hung from the bathroom door's handle. I grabbed it and went to run back, but the bag's strap held tightly to the doorknob and threw me to the floor.

"Adam?" Helena called, and I got back up, and this time I was careful to dislodge the bag off the door before I went to her, she still towered over the blonde man without looking at me, while one of her hands awaited behind her with an open palm.

I put her purse in her hand, Helena took it and searched it before she pulled out a stack of plastic cards held together by a rubber band and handed it to the blonde man.

"So, you did have it," he said with a giggle in his voice.

"Take it, now get out."

"Hold on, hold on, I got to make sure you're paying the right amount, of course." He snickered and began counting the money for a moment before his eyes turned toward me again. "Think about it, Helen, the benefits are pretty good."

Helena pushed me behind her and out of his view, and I heard him sigh and continue to count the money.

It was a tense fifteen seconds before he said, "You gave me more that is due, Helen."

I knew Helena didn't want the man to look at me, but curiosity still made me lean to the side of her dress and watch as the man pulled a pair of the cards from the stack and gave them back to Helena, who took them out of his hand fast as if he was filthy.

The blonde man gave the rest of the money to one of his bodyguards, who pocketed it. "We of the company are proud to always be fair in all our transactions. I'll see you next month." But before he left, he glanced at me with his creepy smile and said, "and I'll see you soon too, Little Adam."

The man left, closing the door delicately, leaving an air of dread lingering in the house. Helena didn't say a single word the rest of the day after that, she served me stew but didn't eat, bathed me without joining me, and when she tucked me in on my side of the bed for the night, she didn't join me.

She kissed my forehead, put out the candle, and left the room.

I couldn't fall asleep for hours, but when I did, she had yet to return.

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**Anima – Northern Zone – Home**

For the following two weeks, Helena and I never spoke about the blonde man's incident; we went about our life as if it had not happened at all. Helena was all smiles and hugs while I let my younger brain take control, so that I could act more like the child she expected me to be.

It was starting to be hard to refer to Helena by her name instead of mama in the back of my head, I had tried to remember anything from my previous life, but nothing more came of it than headaches.

Instead, glimpses of the past five years slowly crept inside my head, solidifying my presence as the owner of this body. The memories of my new childhood flooded my mind and only made the bond I felt for the woman even more fierce.

It was as if I had two personalities that were sharing my head at once; they being my child's brain and my adult's mind. One bubbly and innocent, the other more pragmatic but slowly fading.

I wanted to know more about my new world, and I was thankful that curiosity was something kids were known for. Mama was cooking dinner now, I had watched her use something akin to a red crystal to start the fire earlier. Said crystal now laid next to her. High on the countertop where no kids could reach it.

"Mama, what's that?" I asked, pointing at it until she glanced at me, then her eyes followed my finger back to the crystal.

"Oh, that's a fire dust crystal." She said.

"Dust?" I asked, and she giggled.

"You are so full of questions, Baby. Dust is like a source of energy. Okay, now…" She turned away from the kitchen and grasped me up in her arms, where I shamelessly snuggled further into her embrace as she walked me out of the kitchen and out the back door. "Why don't you go play outside for a tad? Just be careful, okay? I don't want another accident."

"Okay!~" I said in a sing-song voice to make her laugh before I ran outside and directly to the bench.

I sat there, taking advantage of my free time to ponder over things.

My new name was Adam Taurus, and I was a bull Faunus. Unlike mama's brown mane, I had short auburn hair that spiked backward in a windswept way and had only some brown bits here and there.

I had the same pale skin and blue eyes mama had, as well as the aforementioned pair of horns protruding out of my head.

I was five years old, and my birthday had been three months ago.

We lived in a continent called Anima. If I understood mama correctly, the country we lived in was called Mistral. I didn't know precisely how the planet was shaped or where we were located accurately since I had yet to see a map, but I could at least discern that we were up north since it wasn't winter, but the air was still freezing.

The old man… no, what had he called himself again? Keeper? He had called himself a god…

I sighed in frustration, I had been panicking, and my head had been so overloaded with all the new sensations that I could barely remember what he had said to me. I remembered clearly what he said about me being a sinner in my previous world, but I couldn't recall anything from that life, so I did not know a thing about what I had done.

It was…terrifying.

What had the old me done to attract the attention of a god? Had I been a murderer? A greedy politician?

I rose my fists and clenched them tightly, feeling my chubby fingers dig into my palms.

I had nothing from my previous life that could help me, no memories, no knowledge. This body of mine still felt somewhat alien, and I tripped over my own feet at least twice a day. Other than my adult's mind to help my child's brain to understand things more clearly, I had nothing.

I didn't know if I should be worried that I didn't mind that at all.

Various wooden toys were laying in the grass, and my eyes glanced at one car that stole my attention, I sighed inwardly as I felt the mental pull towards it and my legs moved on its own as I leaped off the bench and ran to get the toy.

From one breath to another, the wheels of time had passed without me noticing until mama came to pick me up for dinner, I ate lovingly in her lap as she spoon-fed me the stew, then we took a bath together before she tugged me into bed.

She got into the bed beside me, pulled me close, and kissed the top of my head. "Good night, my sweet baby."

"Good night, mama." I closed my eyes, feeling a smile creeping into my face as I snuggled even closer to her.

I didn't know what I had done in the past, and I didn't care. I may have just come to live here, but I was content with this life, and I have come to wish for only one thing. I wanted this life to never end; I wanted to become Mama's boy. Maybe it was pathetic for someone with the mental maturity of an adult to wish for this, but there was an empty spot inside my heart that only Helena seemed capable of filling. I wanted to be her son, live this new life for this woman that plagued my body's every waking memory.

I couldn't remember my first childhood; I didn't know if it had been better or worse.

Nevertheless, I was enjoying this one.

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**Anima – Northern Zone – Home**

It was warm. Then cold.

I felt safe. Then I did not.

The nothingness awoke me.

There wasn't anything that should have done so, no strange sounds, only mama's breathing tickling my hair as I laid nestled between her arms. Yet, a chilling sense of dread crawled up my spine, my eyes ran in the endless darkness of the room, trying to find anything in the void but saw nothing.

I felt restless, but I couldn't move.

I held my breath.

Listening.

A whistle came…

Chaos sang, reality turned nightmarish.

Fingers dug into my arm, I cried and grasped at mama, but I was wrenched backward. Mama awoke, screaming my name, "Adam!" but a shadow loomed over her.

Greedy eyes shined in the dark.

An unknown, long shaped weapon was rising above.

Arms arched, preparing to bring it down upon her.

"Mama!" I kicked behind me, the shadow holding me cursed, and clawed fingers caught my feet and threw me out of the bed.

My voice came too late, and I heard mama shriek as she was struck in the head and fell back into the bed.

"The bitch is out, get the bastard!"

I was on the ground when I was seized by my leg, and the shadowed figure hauled me up in the air. I kicked and thrashed like a wild animal, and struck the shadow in the groin, which made it curse again and drop me headfirst into the wooden floor.

I fell directly onto one of my horns, there was a snapping sound, and a bright burn blinding me as my lungs collapsed.

My throat felt clogged, and I couldn't close my mouth.

It took me a second to realize that I was screaming.

"Shut him up already!" said the figure that struck mama. He ran to me with his weapon in hand.

Suddenly I flew in the air, my stomach convulsed, and the contents inside rose like bile. Fire lapped at my belly from the kick the shadow had given me, and I fell to the ground on my arms and knees, but my limbs couldn't hold me.

I dropped to the floor, my five-year-old body way over its limit.

Unresponsive.

"Shit, think we overdid it?" came the gurgling voice of one of the two shadows, the one without a weapon. I saw a knee land next to my head before I felt a hand pull my hair up, and I was staring right at the face of my attacker.

One of the blonde's bodyguards smiled as he saw me blink. "Nah, he's still alive."

"Then let's go," said the other, and I was hauled unceremoniously over the bodyguard's shoulder like a sack of soggy rice.

The adrenaline had worn off from my veins; I had no fight left to spare.

Yet my hand still rose, my head tilted sideways so that I could see.

So that I could see her.

"Mama…" I whimpered the word, a whisper, a prayer.

My last sight of our room was that of her brown mane, concealing her face from me.

The two bodyguards went out through the front door; I couldn't see where we were going, but I heard the rumbling of what must have been a car's motor.

The bodyguard holding me walked along the side of a black truck's trailer while his comrade went to the front and got inside. The man holding me took me to the back, and I heard him struggle with the door's lock for a moment before the metal thing wailed as it opened.

He threw me inside like a corpse, I landed painfully on my back, hitting my head against the metallic floor of the trailer.

I got up slightly with the help of my elbow, but I regretted it as the bodyguard gave me a lecherous smirk and licked his lips like a predator savoring the moment before ripping apart its prey.

Then, the blonde man walked into my view from beside the bodyguard. His smile was so broad that it almost appeared as if it were cutting his cheeks apart.

The blonde man grabbed the trailer's door and nodded.

"You and I are going to have a lot of fun very soon. You're going to love working for us," he said, he took a step closer, and I crawled farther away, into the trailer's guts, only making him snicker. "Welcome to the Schnee Dust Company, Adam, your new home."

The last words came with a hint of sarcasm, with an acrid air of disgust. But I couldn't do more than stare at the man like a frightened deer.

My last vision of him was of that smiling visage; the doors of the trailer closed and left me in utter darkness.

Alone in the void, with the blonde man's laughter echoing around me.

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**We have reached the end of the chapter.**

**this story brings a big challenge for me as a noobie writer and that is writing in the first-person view of a man. I'm not a guy and the only male figure I know well is my dad whose personality matches more someone like Jaune than Adam. I'm quite scared and at the same time excited about trying to get into the head of Adam-but-not-Adam. I hope you end up liking my take on it. **

**For people that already know me from my previous story, you will probably already be familiar with specific rules I like to follow with my works, I will apply those same rules here as well. **

**The new soul inside Adam, The Keeper, and Helena will be the only three named OCs in this story, any other OC that I put in the story (like mean blondie here) will remain unnamed and unimportant. **

**The reincarnation of the new soul inside Adam will be important in this story.**

**Now, something I like to do to meet the lovable people that take their precious time to read my story is put questions at the bottom of each chapter, so that you can answer it together with your review, I will put my answer at the end of the next Log and make a new question. **

**If you liked the first chapter of the story (or not,) please leave a review! I would love to know what you think about it so far. **

**Question of the week: Who's your favorite character in RWBY?**

**UPDATE: I'm REadding the old Sub-Logs now as an added bonus to their chapters. I hope you enjoy them ^^**

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**Volume 1**

**Sub-Log 1: Helena**

That man came early today. It's been years since he showed his face in town. I hoped he had died somewhere, but it seems the gods aren't so merciful as to take him.

Maybe he is not dead because they don't want him anywhere near themselves.

But I don't write this to talk about scum like him.

Two days ago, I got the scare of my life, Adam, our baby boy…

He is so beautiful by the way I know I write this every time, but I got to repeat it! He looks just like you when we were young, love. He has your face, horns, and even the same red fire-like color of his hair is exactly like yours. At least he got my pretty eyes.

You always complimented my eyes.

But to what I was saying, Adam went out to play like any typical day, but then I heard him cry, and by the gods, I was horrified when I found him with a hole on his head and bleeding out in my arms!

The doctor assured me that although Adam got a concussion, it wasn't any serious injury, but I swear my baby has been acting kind of strange since it happened. He has been more, how do I say it?

Needy, no, no, it sounds like a bad word. He has been more… cuddly?

Not that I mind but before the accident he didn't like me mothering him too much, he always wanted to be the cool kid, just like you but after it, Adam did a one-eighty on me, now I can't leave the room without him for five minutes before he comes looking for a hug.

He is so adorable!

Totally not like you were. You were an annoying little brat.

I miss you, honey. I wish you were still here with me. I wish you could see our son grow up.

But you don't have to worry. We are okay. We are doing well, and Adam will grow, and he will become a great man just like you, I can't wait until he becomes a teenager. I will probably have to bat away all the girls in the town when they come throwing themselves at Adam because he is going to be the most handsome man in all of Mistral.

We are fine. I will give Adam the pleasant and peaceful life we didn't have.

I promise.


	2. Log 2: The Orphans

**Warning: This work is rated T for a reason; there is Violence, Blood, Angst, and the mention of serious topics like racism and mental illness that merit this rating. This work of Fanfiction will never have any material that would send it over the edge to an M rating like Lemons or highly descriptive scenes of violence.**

**UPDATE 2/26/2020: This chapter has been Beta Read by the wonderful ****RoyalBlueRoses.**

**Salutations everybody! **

**I hope you all have had a lovely holiday season! **

**Here is the second chapter of REwrite: Adam. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I love writing it!**

**And as always, I do not own RWBY!**

**Enjoy!**

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**Season 1: The Prologue To Tragedy**

**Episode 2: Orphans**

**Anima – Northern Zone – Schnee Truck's Trailer**

Cold.

I sat there wedged against the cold corner of the cold trailer, feeling the cold seep into my cold bones as I held my knees close to my chest, my cold arms wrapped around them.

Cold.

The floor beneath me trembled with the movement of the truck, the sound of its engine became my sole companion on the long drive to an unknown neverland.

Cold.

Puffs of cold air escaped out of my chattering teeth, cold trails of salty water danced down my cheeks, and cold mucus made it hard to breathe through my nose.

Cold, was undoubtedly the only fitting word for the occasion, quick, simple, just a breath needed to spit it out.

My childish consciousness wept inside my skull. My adult's mind remained quiet.

I was afraid.

I was alone.

I was cold.

I didn't know where the truck was going, I honestly didn't want to know either, all I wanted was my mama and her smile, all I wanted was to see if she was okay. My only wish was to go back home.

All I wanted was to not feel the cold.

A sudden turn of the truck made me crash brusquely to the wall at my side; my broken horn brushing the metal and forced a whimper out of me that I couldn't contain. I tried to find a modicum of comfort before I noticed how the trailer's shaking was receding.

We were stopping.

The truck reached its unknown destination with one last shrill screech of the wheels, then I heard the echo of the doors of the front open and close in rapid succession, and I pressed my ear against the freezing metal wall, trying to hear anything.

Voices spoke rapidly outside, too muffled by the walls for me to understand, but they were talking loud enough to make it evident they weren't trying to hide or act inconspicuous, my captors felt safe.

That terrified me.

The clang of the trailer's door sent me on high alert; its hinges wailing, a ray of moonlight invading the confines of my jail. I wanted to conceal my face behind my knees in hopes of escaping the blonde man's eyes, but instead of him, what I saw was one of the bodyguards pulling a little girl into the truck.

The girl with greyish-blue hair was sobbing in the man's arms. He deposited her on the floor of the trailer much more gently than he had done with me, only dropping her there. The girl immediately began crying louder, which only made the bodyguard groan as he turned his back on her.

Before I could think about anything, the man then took a boy with spiky brown hair by the armpits and put him into the truck as well. The boy was quiet and didn't resist.

The bodyguard then began to close the door again, the last specks of light revealing a massive bandaged bag-like thing hanging from the boy's back before the darkness reclaimed its rightful place inside the trailer.

"We're going to be fine, I promise," the boy said. It was pitch black inside the truck's guts, but I could make out his silhouette standing there just by the closed doors, he kneeled next to the girl and pressed a hand over her shoulder.

It didn't seem to help; the girl only lowered her head and grasped her knees with her arms and sobbed onto them, her back against the wall in a perfect replica of the way I was sitting in the back corner.

I went to stand up, unraveling my arms from my knees, I then pressed one palm against the floor to push myself up, the metal of the ground groaned against my weight, and the boy's gasp stopped me halfway through the motion.

"W- who's there!" he shouted with a trembling voice, then stood between the girl and me with his arms spread wide open like a human shield.

I didn't need a light to see how much he was shaking.

"Hi?" I said as I finished standing up.

"Oh…" he chuckled and sighed in relief. "Hey, you okay over there?"

"I'm fine." Seeing as my wellbeing had been his first question, I felt somewhat braver and took a couple of steps toward them until we were only a few feet apart.

I had not noticed it before, but he was at least a head taller than me.

"Is she okay?" I nodded at the girl. The boy turned toward her before his eyes meet again with mine.

"Yeah… They didn't hurt us or anything, but I don't think this is how any of us expected it to be like— well, _this…_" The boy waved a hand like that explained what he meant before he shrugged.

"What do you mean?"

"Huh?" he tilted his head sideways like a confused puppy, but then he pointed at the girl and then to himself before he said, "We just got bought out of the orphanage, didn't they buy you too?"

I shook my head, "No, I…" I glanced at the girl before I responded, I was almost sure the boy was older than I was, but the girl appeared to be around my age or maybe younger since she was shorter, I hesitated to tell my story with her there, in the case it would only trouble her more.

Rather than finishing, I just shrugged, eliciting a sigh from the boy as he scratched the back of his head.

"We were the only Faunus in there. That old hag was pretty happy to get rid of us." He sat on the floor next to the girl's feet with a groan.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said honestly, but the boy just chuckled.

"Don't sweat it. I swear that bi—"

A booming knock from the outside of the door shut the boy up and quieted the girl's whimpers as we all flinched and stared at the slowly opening gap. The blinding moonlight that spilled from the narrow opening forced all of us to cover our eyes behind our arms.

Rather than opening only a gap of the door this time, the bodyguards pulled it wide open. The blonde man stood there with a hungry grin, his two cronies taking a hesitant step forward, they seemed slightly confused.

"Shouldn't we do this on the ship, boss?" Asked one of the burly bodyguards as he tapped the metal floor of the trailer. The other large man didn't say a thing and got up inside the truck before he turned around to help the blonde man get in too.

"I don't want to have to wake up at midnight." The blonde man pulled a long metal rod that had something black attached at its end. He tapped the rod against his leg while the last of the bodyguards got inside the trailer.

On the right, three well-dressed men with white suits, two bald giants, and a blonde devil. The devil's eyes were all-consuming.

To the left, three children in pajamas, the boy and I stood there trembling like leaves while the girl remained on the floor, quietly sobbing.

The blonde man nodded at her.

The nearest bodyguard took one step toward the girl and grasped her arm, the girl immediately cried out as she was hauled up towards the blonde man.

"Trifa!" The boy shouted, he went to her but was stopped when the other bodyguard got in the way and grabbed him by the shoulders, "Let her go!" The boy screamed, only making the man holding him chuckle.

The child inside my mind couldn't do much more than cry along with the girl as she was thrown to the floor on her back then held down by the bodyguard, who then pulled up her shirt, leaving her exposed stomach free for the moonlight to kiss.

My adult consciousness contained the rising bile in my throat as the blonde man chuckled. He pressed a button on the rod, and the black tip of it sparked to life with a humming sound, flashing in a burning bright orange.

It wasn't a rod.

It was a branding iron.

"No, no!" She attempted to scratch the man holding her. He only crushed her further into the ground.

Her arms were flailing in the air, her legs kicking aimlessly.

"Trifa!" The boy shouted while he fought to get free of the bodyguard's grip.

The blonde snickered, leaning nearer to his prey.

The branding iron came closer to her unblemished, pale skin. A red, hot, angry light enclosing over the moonlight like blood seeping into white cloth.

"Please, no!" Trifa begged.

The rod didn't care; its owner's smile grew wider.

"Trifa!"

"No!" she shouted.

My child's brain howled, then my adult mind took over, pumping adrenaline into my limbs that burned the trembling cold in their wake inside my veins.

I raced toward them, running just a breadth away from the hand of the bodyguard holding the boy.

The one holding the girl glanced at me, confusion clear on his eyes. "What?"

His voice distracted the blonde. "What, what?" He asked, turning toward me confused at the first second.

Astounded the next.

My hand a breath away from his nose, I saw his eyes as he registered it, as his brain tried to understand it.

Pain.

My knuckles collapsed as they struck flesh, and I felt the blonde man's nose dig deep inside my flesh before it snapped under my weight, louder than an explosion to my ears.

The world flipped outside down.

My head smashed against the floor, my arm twisted the wrong way above me, a knee buried deep into the back.

One bodyguard now was held both of the other kids on the ground, the man looming over them.

The other bodyguard had me biting the cold metal while the blonde man was screaming obscenities, bashing the trailer's wall repeatedly with one hand, while the other held his broken nose out of view.

The burning rod laid there, alone on the floor, just a hair's length away from my eyes.

Glaring hatefully at me.

Like lighting, the blonde man recoiled at me, grabbing the rod with one hand, grasping my hair with the other, then smashing my head onto the ground.

Once.

Twice.

"Fucking animal broke my nose!" He shouted and smashed me a third time against the floor.

Blood dripped from my nose. My whole face hurt, even if nothing felt broken.

The blonde man crushed my head against the ground, grinding it by pulling my hair side to side. "What do you think you are, huh?"

"Shit, it hurts!" he shouted and tightened his grip on my scalp, making me wince. "I'm going to tell you what _you_ are. You are _not_ a boy. You are _not_ a human… You are not even an _animal_ anymore, you hear me!?"

Strands of my hair snapped as he pulled my head up; the pain forced my eyes shut, but then the inside of my eyelids turned bright, and the high-pitched din of the rod heating up made me open them, as fear clogged my throat.

The world had disappeared, the blonde man had created a new existence for only the two of us.

There our faces laid, a mere inch away from each other, illuminated by the orange light of the branding iron. The blonde man's crooked nose was bleeding just like mine, his eyes filled with disgust and hatred.

"I'm going to tell you what you are…" he said, his words followed by a wheezy laugh as he tried to breathe through his mouth.

"You…" He pulled my hair higher. "Are…" The blinding, bright tip of the rod hovered menacingly over my face.

The light hurt my eyes, purple spots forming in my vision. But I couldn't look away. I couldn't move or breathe, my child's brain couldn't understand, could only watch, paralyzed in horror. For the first time since I awoke to my new life.

For the first time.

For the last time.

My adult's mind screamed.

_"Property!"_

The light fell.

A searing agony ripped apart my left eye. The smell of burnt flesh drowned my senses; I howled and bit my tongue, hard enough to bite the tip off. I felt it go down my throat, combining together with the rising bile and the fresh blood that gushed forth.

My adrenaline went into overdrive, I thrashed wildly like an animal, while the laughing of the blonde man and the grumbling of the bodyguard fighting to keep me in place distracted me from my screams.

The brand ignited my skin, burning it so fast that sparks of flames flew away, leaving nothing but seared, black meat behind.

I couldn't close my eyes. I couldn't look away.

The branding fire was lapping at my left eye, and the blonde man's laughing smile was taunting me in my right eye.

Laughing.

Burning.

Falling…

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**Adam – Adam – Adam**

The dripping of water awoke me. I jumped, startled, and confused as to where I was only to find a view I couldn't understand before my eyes.

A white sky floated over the horizon, no sun or moon shined, yet there was no darkness in this place to hide the crimson forest sprawled around me, made of pine trees of dark bark and red leaves.

"Where…" I began saying, but stopped when I heard my voice, it wasn't my childish voice anymore. It was now a gurgling sound that I couldn't recognize.

I looked at my hands, only to find a pair of unformed black limbs. My arms gave way to long, slender fingers and adult hands that seemed to have lost all textures and light. My entire body had become nothing but blackness in a world without shadows, and I wasn't sure what to make of it.

Then I heard it.

A child's crying, one that sounded so familiar, but one I had never heard from a third-person perspective.

Not far away from me, nestled against the roots of a particularly tall tree was a kid I never thought I would see without looking in a mirror. Adam sat there, in that same position I had been in when I had been alone in my kidnapper's truck, his arms around his legs, his face hiding behind his knees.

I walked up to him and stood before his feet. Adam didn't seem to notice my presence as he kept crying. "What's wrong?" I asked, with my gurgling voice.

"I don't know who I am," He responded, between sobs. Before I could answer, he rose his head to meet me, and I flinched at what I found there. I saw the face I had seen so many times in the mirror, yet at the same time, it wasn't the same face.

Partially across Adam's left eye and temple was a brand that had seared the letters 'SDC.' into his flesh. In between blackened lines, the scar had an angry, brown coloration and trails of singed skin that sprawled away from the brand like the roots of a tree.

His injured eyelid was open, showing me a bloodied eye with a dead, gray iris.

"Do you know who I am?" He suddenly asked.

"You're Adam," I said, while I began to kneel closer to him. "Your name is Adam Taurus."

"Then, who're you?" He asked, and stopped moving halfway through the motion of kneeling; unable to think of an answer to such a question.

I had thought before that I was Adam; I thought my name was Adam Taurus, a man reborn into the body of a child, but here I was staring down at that same child.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. Rather than finishing kneeling, I went and sat in the crimson grass, crossing my legs and resting my elbows on them. "Does it hurt?"

I don't know what prompted me to do it, but before I noticed; I had risen my hand, and my fingers were mere centimeters away from Adam's brandmark.

He didn't move away from my touch. Instead, he nodded against my fingers as they caressed the dark scar, my fingertips trailed over the hard, textured surface; touching the canyons in his skin, feeling a heavy sense of guilt in my belly as if_ myself_ had been the very river of fire that had carved them into his flesh.

"This is your punishment." Another voice that sounded more like the scraping of mountains against a storm than like a man said behind me.

Both Adam and I glanced there to find the god disguising as an old man, The Keeper. He stood watching us with an impassive mask with his hands coiled behind him.

"What do you want, Adam?" The Keeper asked.

But Adam didn't answer.

"I asked you a question, Adam," He repeated, his wrinkled eyelids slightly open, showing those void-like eyes staring at me rather than looking at the boy. "What do you want?"

I blinked, and my point of view suddenly changed, I was staring at both The Keeper and the dark figure that I had been before through Adam's eyes.

"I want to go home," the dark figure gurgled.

Mama's image flashed in my eyes, her dark brown hair dancing in the air, her gentle smile kissing me from far away made my heart feel warm and fuzzy before it disappeared.

"Alone?" The Keeper asked, and the dark figure turned to look at me. It didn't have eyes. Instead, there were a pair of holes where its eyes should have been. The Keeper sighed, and billowing from his mouth came a cloud of smoke like the one from a cigarette that wasn't there, the smoke took a circular shape and in its center appeared an image of the two kids I had been with on the truck, the brown-haired boy was holding the girl with short grayish-blue hair as she cried in his arms.

"I will carry your pain," Gurgled the dark figure, as its hand touched me again on the brandmark.

I felt the ache in it fade away as a light appeared in the tip of his fingers then traveled over its dark body, right into his left eye, where a brandmark made of light appeared on its black skin.

The Keeper watched me with something like pity shining in his eyes; his thin lips turned upside down. He nodded before he came closer, then offered me his open hand.

I thought he wanted me to take it, but an instant later, a spark of red light appeared in his hand. "This is both a gift and a curse. This light is half of your Semblance, the power to take the harm done to others so that you may suffer it in their stead."

Suddenly, the dark figure began to lose its shape, becoming a swirl of darkness in the air, then decreasing in size until it was nothing but a tiny mote of darkness that floated into The Keeper's second open palm. "And this darkness is the other half."

"What's a Semblance?" I asked, but the god ignored me as the spark of red light, and the mote of darkness floated away from his hands and combined in the center, forming a black orb that shone with a crimson hue.

"This will be our last meeting for a long time. Choose well, Adam… The wishes of a child sometimes cannot survive the needs of a man." The Keeper said, and before I could say anything, the orb flew at me, and the world disappeared.

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**Unknown – Unknown – Unknown**

I opened my eyes to find myself staring at a white, plastic-looking ceiling. I was lying on the floor, but my head was held over something soft and comfortable.

"He woke up," Said a girly voice, and then I saw the girl with short hair floating above me, with a halo of the overhead lights casting a shadow upon me. It only took me a moment more to figure out that my head was laying in her lap.

"Morning," Said the brown-haired boy from beside us. He was sitting right next to the girl and had an apologetic smile as he watched me.

I got up from the girl's lap, then blinked and groaned a little as the movement made my left eye sting a little, I brushed my hand over the brandmark and felt the ridges of the scar. They seemed to have the same shape as the one I had seen in that… had it been a dream?

"You okay?" the boy asked, and I shrugged as an answer. I turned and sat cross-legged so that I could watch them, but instead, my eyes rummaged through our surroundings, taking it all in.

We were no longer in the trailer of a truck, nor were we alone. Instead, we were in a giant hangar-looking room. The walls were hidden by towering stacks of boxes stamped with the same star symbol that had been on the blonde man's clothes. Surrounding us were a myriad of other children, sitting or lying on the floor, mostly in silence, most dressed in only rags or dirty clothes while others were in pajamas.

Bunny ears, cat ears, animal ears, tails of all shapes, scales, and fur, all assaulted my vision.

All the children here were Faunus.

"Where are we?" I asked, and the brown-haired boy sighed, but it wasn't him, but instead, the girl that answered my question.

"On an airship."

Yuma chipped in with more information after I arched my healthy eyebrow, "You've been sleeping for almost a whole day, after that whole thing in the truck, they drove us to a port and packed us in this airship with everyone else, we have been flying for hours." He stood up and pointed toward the back of the hangar. "They left some bags of water bottles near the door. I'll go get you one."

He left, turning his back on us, carefully moving around the other sleeping kids. I was surprised to find that he had what appeared to be a pair of tiny brown wings coming out of his back, but I couldn't see much of them before the crowd swallowed him.

I glanced at the girl, finding her staring at me, but the moment our eyes met, she flinched and looked away. "Does… does it hurt?" the girl asked.

"Hmm?" I asked, she brushed her left eye, and I shrugged for an answer. It didn't hurt, but it did sting a little each time I blinked or moved my face.

The boy came back and offered me one bottle and said, "By the way, I never caught your name."

"Adam." I opened the bottle, I stared at it a long second before I dared put it close to my lips, but the moment the cold liquid washed over my injured tongue, I yelped, startling the other two kids.

I rose the bottle high above and drank from it until it was empty.

"I wish we could have met in a better way, but anyway," Started the boy as he pointed at himself with his thumb. "My name is Yuma, I'm seven years old, and this is Trifa, she's five. Let's be friends."

"How old are you?" Trifa asked as she gave me a shy wave without looking at me while Yuma chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"Same as you," I said, and she nodded.

Yuma offered me his hand. "Anyway, I wanted to thank you for what you tried to do. You got hurt because of us."

I shook it once before I answered him,

"There is no need," I pointed at him with a finger. "Did they…?"

"Huh?" Yuma tiled his head to the side, but then he said, "Oh, yeah, they did."

A sad, false smile spread across his face as he lifted his pajama shirt to show me the same brandmark that I had over my eye was also seared into his stomach, just above his belly button.

I heard Trifa shuffling next to me, and I glance to find her also showing me her own in the same spot as Yuma's.

"I'm sorry," I said, feeling disgusted and ashamed that I didn't manage to change anything.

But Yuma just shrugged it off. "You tried, that's good enough in my book."

"Thank you," Trifa said.

Suddenly the large doors at the back of the hangar began to slide up, the metal ringing as it elevated off the floor, from its maw came a large group of black humanoid droids with red 'V' shaped visors on both their heads, and chest pieces.

The kids near them backed away, the droids came in closer until all the kids were packed together in the middle of the hangar, surrounded by droids.

Then a lone man came in next. He wore a white suit with a blue undershirt and a red tie, I thought for a second that it was the blonde man since their figures were similar, but instead, he was a taller, older-looking man with tanned skin, salt-and-pepper hair, and a mustache thick enough to hide his mouth.

The man grasped the hem of his suit and began talking, but the muttering and crying of children muted his words, he seemed to notice this only after wasting a whole minute, and right away his joyful demeanor changed to one of anger and frustration as he shouted something else that I couldn't hear.

The droids around us crouched, and their hands twirled on their wrists before they transformed into mini-guns, only making the crowd of children around me scream in fear and begin to try and run to the center.

The mob of kids became savage, and I felt kids clashing against me from all sides; Yuma had ducked beside me and covered his head with his arms, I was going to grab him before I glanced to one side and saw Trifa being pushed away from me.

"Trifa!" I shouted, and clawed for her hand. I grasped her forearm as hard as I could and managed to hold onto her, but I wasn't strong enough to pull her back, and instead, the current of bodies dragged me. "Yuma!"

He looked up to see us struggling; he quickly stood up and grabbed us both. Yuma was taller than most and was able to pull us back to him while Trifa and I did the same to him.

_ "Quiet! Quiet! Quiet!"_ a booming voice made the ocean of bodies stop, I dislodged myself from Yuma and saw the man now standing atop a box with a megaphone tightly gripped in his hand, his face a shade redder with anger.

After waiting ten seconds that felt like they twenty, the man nodded to himself and threw the megaphone to the side like trash, before he began to talk with a prideful yet calm demeanor in his voice, "Now that you all are finally listening to me, I want to welcome you all to Atlas, your new home!"

He smiled and clapped his hands together. "We will be arriving at your new home and workplace in just a few minutes. I hope you all make sure to make your new family, the Schnee Dust Company family, proud of your work!"

He turned around and jumped off the box while waving a finger in the air, "Have at thee!" he said, and then dozens of uniformed men walked into the hangar in two perfect lines that broke apart to leave the mustachioed man part through the middle of them like a messiah, while still waving his finger around before he disappeared into the darkness.

Everything that came after that was like a drunken blur. The Schnee company men set up two checkpoints. We were all put into a line in one or the other with Yuma, Trifa, and I ended up in the right one.

Yuma went first. The man sitting at the table asked him a couple of questions, then wrote the answers into a handheld device. After that, one of the guards led Yuma outside of the hangar's doors.

I went next.

"Name?" The man asked, without looking up from his device, even before I reached the table.

"Adam," I said. I leaned a little forward to try and get a better look at the tablet he was using; the device was made up of a holographic-looking panel between two solid white grips. I couldn't contain my curiosity, and I asked, "What's that?"

The man chuckled without looking up. "From what _backwater hole_ did they find you in, that you don't even know what a scroll is…what the?!" He shouted and recoiled away from me and the table, throwing his chair to the side once he saw my face.

Conversations stopped. Silence took in, and some guards came forward but didn't move any closer as if they were unsure of what was going on.

"Holy…" He gasped. The man got his chair back up and sat down, before he mumbled to himself loud enough for me to hear, "I guess I don't have to check that."

He pressed a button on his scroll and then said, "You are clear to go." He waved to a guard that came and dropped a heavy hand on my shoulder.

The guard led me outside the hangar, where I found a long passage with more lines of kids in it. I couldn't see Yuma, but it wasn't like I could choose which one to join when the guard directed me to a line on the far side and put me at the end of it before he went back.

At the end of it awaited a young human woman that couldn't have been older than twenty sitting across another table, there was a large stack of square, plastic bags behind her, and she had a creepy, fake smile plastered over her face.

Unlike the man before, she didn't even seem to notice the brand mark on my face as she greeted me with a nauseatingly sweet tune in her voice that could have given diabetes to anyone who heard it, "Hello dearie! Here to collect your clothes? Please tell me your age and gender."

I arched my one good eyebrow, curious as to why she would need to ask me my gender when I was standing right in front of her, but I complied at least by telling her my age, "Five."

She didn't seem to have heard me as she kept smiling without doing anything else. Her smile slowly broadened, and she tilted her head slightly to the side before she repeated her question, "Please tell me your age and gender."

"Male," I said, and she nodded and turned around to grab one of the bags, which she unceremoniously dropped on the table and then pushed toward me with one hand as if she didn't want to risk touching me.

"Welcome to the Schnee Dust Company, the finest of them all."

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**Poor Adam, this new life of his certainly ain't fun, but at least now he has a Semblance right? I wonder what it does…**

**Life is going to be hard for Adam, The Keeper already warned us about it, but I promise, this story is not just going to be all about how much I can make Adam suffer. I believe the stories that are more fun to tell are not those of how a hero on his prime defeats the villain of the week kind of deal, but instead I believe the best stories are those that tell how that hero became who he is and that is somewhat what I want to do here. We will see Adam struggle from the start and watch as he learns to overcome the world of Remnant.**

**Also, I want to mention that I'm a bit sad nobody tried to answer the question in the first chapter, but nevertheless I'm happy with the reception the chapter got. Thank you for reading my work and leaving reviews, they always help with my self-esteem as a writer.**

**Last Chapter's Question: Who's your favorite character in RWBY?**

**Yang is my favorite character. Not only her design is hella cool, but her personality is so close to my older sister's that Yang always makes me think of my sister and smile every time She appears on the screen.**

**Question of the Chapter: What is your favorite type of Grimm?**

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**Season 1: The Prologue To Tragedy**

**Sub-Log: Trifa**

I can't believe it, it is happening!

I got adopted! I never thought this day would come, but it really did, it really, really, did!

And that is not even the best part, Yuma got adopted with me too! Together!

The matron took us early today into her office and gave us the news. I always thought that she was scary, and Yuma always said that the matron was a mean and evil person, but she was smiling and looked so happy too. It was like she was so pleased for us.

I still can't believe it is happening, I always wanted a family, but everyone says I would never get adopted, but I did.

And I'm so happy Yuma got adopted too, he didn't seem satisfied though, I tried asking him if something was wrong, but he wouldn't tell me a thing, I hate that he keeps acting like I won't understand things just because Yuma is two years older than me. I learned how to count faster than he did, so he doesn't have an excuse to not tell me things.

I wonder how our new parents will be, the matron only smiled and wouldn't tell me anything about them, she only kept saying it would be the surprise of my life and I can't wait!

The matron told us our new parents will come to pick us up tomorrow night, she gave each of us a plastic bag to pack up our stuff but other than my pajamas, my dress and my teddy bear I don't really have anything else to bring.

I wonder how big our new house will be. I hope it is enormous! Oh, and would we have other siblings? Maybe not, but it would be awesome to be a big sister, I always wanted a little sibling to play with.

This will be the very last chapter of my diary, I won't be bringing it to my new home, but I will ask my new parents if I could get a new one.

This will be a fresh start, a happy new beginning, with no bullies and no matron.

I only hope our new home is in a warmer place…


	3. Log 3: The Raven

**Warning: This work is rated T for a reason; there is Violence, Blood, Angst, and the mention of serious topics like racism and mental illness that merit this rating. This work of Fanfiction will never have any material that would send it over the edge to an M rating like Lemons or highly descriptive scenes of violence.**

**Salutations everybody!**

**Happy new year, guys! I hope you everyone had some nice Holidays, mines are ending in two days RIP! School is evil, evil, I tell ya! Evil!**

**Anyway, you are not here to hear about my feeling about high school and its evilness. Here is the third chapter of REwrite: Adam. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I love writing it!**

**And as always, I do not own RWBY!**

**Enjoy!**

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**Volume 1**

**Log 3: The Raven**

**Atlas – Watts' Mines – Owner's Office Tower**

Hard, cold wood met my face, one of the guard's hand holding tightly to my crimson hair while the other kept mines painfully restrained behind my back.

The owner's office was immaculate as ever, high bookshelves filled with random expensive-looking paraphernalia and not a single book decorated the sidewalls while a long window took over most of the back wall behind the owner's desk.

There were seven people in the room; I was held on the floor in front of the desk while Yuma and Trifa were forced to kneel at the back of the room with guards behind them.

The man himself, the mines' owner, sat on his chair with a look of annoyance on his eyes and a displeased expression on his lips that made his sizeable dark mustache ride high enough for his teeth to show up.

"Brute, get off him now!" shouted my unlikely savior. The mine's owner twirled his mustache as he got up his desk and walked around it to stand just above me like a looming statue of decency.

The guard grunted and obeyed the order, unhanding me, and standing back up to stay just a step away from me as if I was still some major threat that couldn't be left alone even when I wasn't even tall enough to reach his knee.

"Are you okay, Adam?" The owner asked, kneeling next to me and pressing his hand over the center of my back. I didn't answer as I took that time to sit on the floor and, instead, I massaged my right wrist.

He exhaled and stood up. "I'm sorry for the terrible behavior of my guards," he said and swatted his hand at his men as if they were insects to him. "Go on, idiots, leave us already, and take those two with you."

I didn't look nor did anything more than knead the aching muscles of my arm while I heard the boots of the guards leave with my friends in tow. The door closed behind me with a sound of resolution that left me with nothing but my nerves to keep me company.

And a monster.

"Adam, Adam, Adam." The owner singsonged my name while he went back to his chair, he jumped to it, making the pitiful thing whine as it reclined enough for the owner to land his pristine leather shoes on the table. "You have been working here for how long now? Ah, yes, two and a half years, Adam, can you believe it? Two and a half years since we became friends!"

He chuckled, and I did my best not to show anything, I kept my eyes on my hand, my shoulders sagged in an apparent show of defeat because for this man this was all a game.

And the owner was a dangerous sore loser, but a generous winner.

"How many failed escapes now, huh, Adam? Our last tally was eighty-seven, but I think I could count tonight's as two." He chuckled and looked up to the ceiling while he tapped his chin like he was enjoying his joke. "Really, Adam, smuggling yourself in the food waste truck while your minions rode the trash shut out of here? You certainly are a genius I would have never even thought about it if I were you!"

He bashed the table as his laughing increased. He snickered until he was out of breath and wiped a few tears from his eyes. "That was ingenious! You even left me enough clues so that I would be certain all of you were together in the truck, but no! You were the decoy again! And I almost fell for it! Masterful! Truly brilliant of you, my dear, Adam."

The doors behind me opened, and the owner groaned. Curiosity wanted me to turn, but I kept my eyes to the floor, I didn't need to see what was going on if I could hear it instead.

"What is it?" The owner asked, "don't you see I'm quite occupied right now with my dear friend?"

"Boss, the package arrived." One of the guards came to stand next to me, and I stole a glance at him and saw him carrying a small white box in his hands.

The owner's demeanor went instantly from annoyed to excited, "Finally!"

The guard put the box on the desk, and the owner chuckled, his greedy hands went for it, but just before they touched it, he seemed to hesitate before he grinned, and his eyes landed on me.

"Ah, see, Adam? I went from being just another doctor, to then a scientist and now a mine owner, certainly an improvement when it comes to the income but a terrible life choice when it comes to personal enjoyment, even a simple box can brighten my day."

He waved dismissively to the guard, and the man took the box back, then the owner said, "put it on the northern pit, I don't need Jacques getting curious about my things."

The guard grunted and left. The door closed with finality as the owner walked around his desk and leaned against it, looming over me as he tapped his chin and hummed to himself. "Now Adam, I don't like punishing you, you are my only other source of entertainment in this dump, and I can't have your little fire of defiance being squashed out! But… if I don't punish you, what will the rest of the animals think?"

He chuckled and kneeled in front of me. I couldn't resist meeting his eyes anymore; he ignored my healthy blue eye and, instead, seemed to be fascinated by my brandmark. "Let's make it a game, shall we? You were one of the kids that were there when that new hole filled was open, right? What a terrible accident that was, I lost so many workers! But no matter, I want you to get me ten pounds of crystals by the end of the night shift, or else your two minions won't get any food for a week."

"No!" I exclaimed desperately. "It was all my plan. I forced them, punish me!"

His face just came closer to mine, just a mere breath away, and I clenched my fist as hard as I could, knowing that even if I tried to hit him, I wouldn't do anything more than make things worse.

"I know that Adam, but I'm not stupid." He said, his faint smile broadening, "I know you like if you were my own child, and I know what you care about… and I know it is not yourself." He stood up, leaving me defeated on the floor. "Now go. Time is ticking!"

I ran.

I threw the door open without a care of starling the pair of guards standing outside and went out, ignoring the high view.

The entirety of the installations was hidden from the biting cold of Atlas inside a massive cave. The owner's office was high above a tower at one side of it, next to the guard's barracks while on the other side of the cave was the makeshift tent camp where most of the equipment and workers stayed.

I ran down the stairs and went to the largest tent where the mining equipment was kept, at this hour of the night it was empty. I took one of the pickaxes and ran out and into one of the many tunnels spread across the cave's walls.

The tunnels were challenging to navigate; they were small and mostly made by untrained hands, making cave-ins a common issue. The old ones were the worse since they had been stripped away from any dust crystals, and since those were the only source of illumination we got, it made memorizing the paths hard, and it wasn't strange for someone to get lost.

Especially the younger and newer workers.

I knew I had reached my destination not only by the green light but by the stench. It was warm enough inside the tunnels that the corpses from the cave in had started to rot. I hesitated and gulped saliva, trying to clean up my nose, but I knew I was just wasting time.

I kept going.

The entrance to the new tunnel was small, most of it had broken down, and large boulders filled the right side, a rotting hand was sticking out of them, and I took extra care as I went through the hole to avoid getting touch by it.

Inside the new cave, green dust crystals were sticking out from everywhere; their light was intense and illuminated the whole place, but it was dim enough too not hurt my eyes as I went to the nearest one.

Most people believed dust crystals to be dangerous, volatile things, they were. But in their raw form dust crystals were hard, hard enough that if I were to strike it with my rusty pickaxe with all my seven-year-old strength, it would have been my pickaxe that broke. Dust crystals would only explode if handled or hit with dust powered machinery.

That was one of the reasons manual labor was the safest way to mine them.

I liked that because it meant I didn't have to be cautious as I struck the rock around the crystal.

I hated that because it meant I had to dig the whole thing out of the wall.

I struck the wall with my pickaxe, the echoes of the metal hitting both dirt and crystal filled the cave, it was hard to gauge the passing of time in that hole, and I didn't care much for it either.

"Adam?" Yuma's voice came from almost next to me, and I swung the pickaxe at him by accident, luckily, he dodged it, but he wasn't happy. "Hey, watch it!"

Rather than say sorry and admit that he took me by surprise, I asked in an angry whisper, "what are you doing here?"

"Yeesh," the taller boy sighed and pointed with one hand to the other, and I saw he was carrying a plate of food. "I was thinking you would be hungry."

I nodded, dropped the pickaxe, and took the plate from him before I sat in the ground.

The food served to the workers wasn't much, it was a green mush that smelled of wet plants but thankfully had no actual taste, I grabbed a bite with my fingers and dug into the food while Yuma sat next to me.

The boy was now nine, making him one of the oldest workers in the mines and probably the tallest, he kept his wings hidden with a holed-out bag to protect them from both the cold and the guards.

"Trifa?" I asked, shoving food quickly into my mouth.

"Sleeping. How many crystals?" Yuma asked.

I gulped the food, wishing I had something to wash it down with, but knowing water rations were a luxury neither of us could afford to squander. "It doesn't matter."

Yuma's expression went from calm to anger in an instant, and he shoved me in the shoulder, "Like hell it does!"

I felt on the ground, more thankful that my plate was already empty, and I didn't waste food than I was for falling on a soft spot of dirt that didn't hurt me, Yuma towered over me, and the light of the crystals made me notice the sheen of water pooling over his eyes.

"Stop trying to be a goddamn martyr, your idiot. You are not even old enough to know what that means!"

"I do know what martyr means," I said with a chuckle, trying to defuse the situation. I knew I failed at that when I tried to stand up but instead found Yuma standing between my legs and stopping me from getting up.

"Well, unlearn it!" He said, and before I knew, he leaned down and hauled me up by the collar of my uniform. "We are family, we agreed on it, Adam. Now tell me how many freaking crystals we have to mine?"

I couldn't look him in the eyes, both because of shame and frustration with the older boy who couldn't figure out when not to stick his nose on things; he always thought I couldn't notice how he only ate a third of his food because he shoved most of it onto Trifa's. Yuma considered himself clever, but he was as good at hiding things as an explosion.

He didn't unhand me as I remained silent. Instead, he shook me a little, and I sighed in resignation. "Ten pounds before the night is gone."

Right away, Yuma let me go, and I fell unceremoniously on my ass with a grunt, "Shit!" He cursed. "We are going to be here all night."

I opened my mouth to tell him he didn't have to, but he shut me up only with an angry glance, he went out of the cave and came back just a second after with a pickaxe hanging on his shoulder and a large leather bag dragging behind him.

We went to work in silence; the cave was filled to the brim with crystals, but most were not larger than a finger, and it took a long time to extract each out of the cave's walls. By the time we had ten pounds, both of us were exhausted.

"Are we done?" Yuma asked from his position sprawled on the floor with the bag of crystals lying on his stomach.

I pried the last crystals out of the wall and threw it at him. Missing the bag, and instead hitting him in the chest by accident.

"You did that on purpose." He looked at me with only one eye open, and I smiled and shrugged, making him sigh before he got up with the bag in his hands.

I sat, my tired limbs demanding a rest after all the work.

"You okay?" Yuma asked, and I just waved his concern away. I didn't want to worry him more than the overthinking idiot already did on his own.

I rose my hand at him. "Give me the bag."

"Is too heavy, I will carry it out."

"He can't know you helped me," I said, but Yuma only shrugged.

"Is not like that human is gonna care what we do," he said positively, but I shook my head in denial, I knew the man better than Yuma did.

"He does," I kept my hand up waiting for the bag, but Yuma's eyes didn't look like they were buying it even if what I was selling wasn't a lie.

"I will dump it on the guards and go right to sleep," I said to try and to reassure him, and after a contests between our eyes he sighed and dropped it on my hand, the thing was heavier than I expected, and I almost found myself crashing to the ground with it and making Yuma snort.

"You get the bed tonight, or well today. Trifa and I decided that before I came here and you don't get a choice, you got it, idiot?"

I did want to complain, but Yuma loomed over me with a vein almost popping out of his forehead even before I could open my mouth, I shrugged in defeat and annoyingly accepted, "Fine…"

His attitude went back to being happy in an instant, and he waved as he left me behind, "Don't fall asleep in here!"

I saw him leave and counted the echoes of his footsteps.

I let a smile color my lips, I would never admit it out loud, but I quite liked it when Yuma tried to act like a big brother. The issue with that closeness was that anytime I lied to him, I felt the lie turn into a weight inside my lungs.

I waited until I was sure Yuma would have left the tunnels and gotten back to the tent we shared with Trifa, I hauled the bag over my shoulder and went out. I knew merely dropping the bag to one of the guards wouldn't do it.

I walked into the open space of the main cave. There was nobody around, no workers or guards. At first glance, someone would think the security was terrible here, and I had thought that too once.

The truth was they didn't need to guard us all the time; the only way out of here was through the heavily fortified entrance filled with droids that never slept. There wasn't a worker in the mines older than Yuma, and all the guards were armed and adept at manifesting their souls like a shield to protect themselves.

I had learned what that was the hard way. They called it an Aura, but I didn't know much more about it than that it was harder than metal, and punching it almost broke my hand.

I went up the stairs of the owner's office tower, intending on leaving the bag on his desk for him to find. Sometimes it truly astounded me how little they thought of us. There were no locked doors or guarded places in here other than the Owner's actual room.

Sadly, that wasn't as useful as it sounds, I had searched the whole office more than once and found nothing useful, I tried once to steal a couple of things, and I had hidden them in a hole, but somehow, they had found them immediately and known I had been the culprit too.

I didn't know how the owner did it, but I was sure he could somehow see everything that was always going on anywhere in the main cave.

I got up to the top of the tower, unsurprisingly finding no guards at the doors since the owner wouldn't be there at this hour.

I went up to the door, I grunted at the weight of the bag and decided to drop it on the floor just for a moment before I went to turn on the knob, the metal was cold, and it stung my hand, but I still pushed it down with a mumbled curse.

As expected, the room was dark and empty, my hand searched on the wall for the lights for a moment before I gave up, it wasn't like I was going to stay, so I instead walked into the darkness with only the outside lights peering in through the window and the open door.

I went up to the desk and unceremoniously dropped the bag on it, I sighed, and rested my hands on it as well, letting my arms hold onto my weight as I took a deep breath.

I hated this place, most of the kids brought here gave up in trying to get away soon and mostly worked until they either died from overwork, or those lucky enough to survive were sold after they grew too big to fit into the tunnels.

I haven't given up yet, but I didn't know how far or close I was to that point. Yuma and Trifa were the only things keeping me from it, that hope that flared in their eyes after I got a new escape plan had become almost an addiction.

At this point, I wasn't even sure I could successfully runaway; I wasn't bright or strong enough to do it, the only thing I had with me was my stubbornness, and I was running low on it by now.

I felt my shoulder sag further down and the beginnings of a tear forming on my eye, I grunted in anger and pressed my eyes shut as hard as I could, ignoring the pain that created in my branded eye.

I didn't want to give up. I wanted to go home, and I wanted to go back to my mom and bring with me Yuma and Trifa. Mom would love them, specially Trifa, since they both liked to sing and, and, I don't know Yuma would have fun too, and I just…

I wanted to go home.

Cold trailed down my cheeks, and I didn't bother to wipe the tears, I sobbed like the kid I wasn't and felt my legs give up under me, and my knees crash against the solid floor.

I wanted to go home.

This office was the seat of power of the man that kept me away from home, yet how pathetic it was that this room was the only place I felt safe enough to cry? I couldn't show Yuma or Trifa my tears, or they would try to take the blame.

I wasn't alone, I knew I wasn't, but I felt so lonely anyway. I didn't feel like a grown man or even a seven-year-old boy. I wasn't brave. I wasn't smart, nor was I strong.

I was a baby, and I wanted my mom.

I let myself cry until my eyes ran dry, and my nose was stuffed. I sat there on the floor and used the bottom of my shirt to clean my face and wipe the snot. Then I stood up and took a deep breath before I slapped my cheeks with my cold hands.

I may have been a failure, but I wouldn't act like one.

I had wasted enough time of the little night I still had left. I would go back to our tent and sleep. I even had a couple of ideas I could check on for another plan.

I could make this work.

I just needed to repeat those words enough times in my head to believe it.

I turned around with a smile on my face.

And found that I couldn't see the door.

A red circle made of a red mist was floating in the air, the gaping black maw on its center completely hiding the door from my view. The thing emitted no sounds, and I blinked twice, hoping it was just a hallucination.

It wasn't.

I didn't know what to do, I didn't want to come near it, but before I could think of a plan of action, I saw something emerge from it.

Four red eyes stared back at me from the void.

I had never seen a Grimm in my life, but I had heard enough of those creatures. Beast-like monsters made of black fur, teeth, and pale white plates of bone that hunted and killed anything they came across.

I remembered the most distinct features everyone always talked about when describing them.

Red eyes.

I couldn't scream, I was too terrified to do more than tremble in place.

The Grimm wouldn't wait for me.

The beast jumped off the portal straight at me.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the end.

An arm smashed against my chest, pushing me back until I crashed against the desk where it held me, the loud sound of something else smashing against the table right beside my ear made me open my eyes only to find the creatures mask-like head just a breath away from me.

It was shaped like a helmet, made of white bones with red markings all over it surrounding four holes from where those crimson eyes stared me down.

"A slave…" said a woman's voice that came from the mask, and that was when my fear gave way to confusion. I glanced at what was sticking from the desk right next to my face only to find the red blade of a katana lodged against the table with its sharp edge close enough to caress the skin of my nose as I looked at it.

The woman dislodged her sword and stood up, facing away from me as if she had lost any interest in me, but I had not lost my interest in her.

I saw her turn and walk away, her short black kimono with red highlights and a massive sheath that seemed to hold various colored blades distracted me for a moment thanks to my childish curiosity that between one blink and another she was already opening the door.

But I couldn't let her go.

"W-wait!" I shouted

The woman stopped halfway out of the door.

It was obvious she was an intruder. In any other circumstances, I would question what other reason someone would have to try and infiltrate a prison mine that wasn't to rescue someone in it; she didn't seem like the kind of person to be in here for that reason since if she were looking for someone, she would have tried to get some information about her rescuee from me as a fellow prisoner.

There was only one other thing someone could have come for here, at least I was willing to take a bet on that hunch.

The box.

"I know why you are here!" I said, and she glanced at me with the bloody eyes of her Grimm mask. "I know where the owner hid it too."

She gave me her full attention as she turned towards me and said, "Talk." She didn't scream or shout the word, yet the weight of her voice made me flinch as if she had done so.

"I- I won't tell you unless you agree to do something for me."

She snorted loudly at me as if I had just said the punchline of a joke, "Careful, Faunus boy, I'm in a hurry, and I don't care about killing one slave."

That she hasn't yet done so, gave me hope, and that hope made me braver. "Kill me, and you will waste more time trying to find it on your own."

"Talk then."

I nodded at her and asked, "How many people can you carry on that portal?"

"I won't carry more than two," she said, and I shook my head.

She said she wouldn't, not that she couldn't.

I would have liked to free this place, but that was more of a wild dream.

Now wasn't the time for dreams.

"Three," I said.

A tense silence took over the room for several seconds that made me sweat even with how cold I felt. I began to regret my feat of bravery. I had overstepped my luck, maybe I could still back out and accept the woman's deal, have her take Yuma and Trifa away, I could hopefully find another way out by myself in the future, and we could reunite and go back home to my mo-

"Deal, show me where it is," she said as she sheathed her katana, and I let the air I had unconsciously held inside my lungs out.

I walked up to her and around her, her bloody eyes following my every moment like the eyes of a raven. I felt dread twirling in my veins when I gave her my back and went to the door. I poked my head out to make sure there wasn't anyone and then waved at her to follow me.

Even if I knew the chances of walking up to a guard were next to nothing, I kept glancing everywhere as we went to the northern part of the cave, the woman followed me with what appeared like absolute calmness, but she still held one hand on her scabbard and the other on the hilt of her sword.

Unlike most of the mine's tunnels, the one leading up north was tall and wide enough for various grown men to go in comfortably side by side. It was one of the oldest tunnels from even before the mine had changed to use Faunus labor, so it also had a proper line of old oil lamps shining the way.

A few turns more, and we would reach the known end of the tunnel, I took a glance at the woman walking behind me, and I prayed that my assumptions had been right. If we reached the end and the box wasn't there, I didn't think I would walk out of here alive.

"I could kill for a cup of coffee…" said an echo that made us stop just a few steps before the next corner.

I recognized the voice as one of the guards. I took a step back and leaned toward the woman with a hand covering part of my mouth. "Is guarded." She shrugged and began walking, leaving me behind, "H-hey!" I whispered and followed her only for the woman to raise her hand at me and stop me.

"Wait there," she said. The masked woman glanced at me like she was waiting for an answer, so I nodded, and then she processed to walk away and turn in the corner where she disappeared from my view.

I stood there, breathing nervously as I expected everything to go the hell, I had no idea how strong the woman was, but I did know the owner's guards were professional fighters and were armed with guns instead of swords.

I took a step forward.

I had bet my life and those of my friends on her success.

If she got herself killed…

I could not wait here, uselessly. I looked around, finding a rock the size of my fist near me, I picked it up and went and made the turn down the corner, not sure of what I would find in that dreadful silence but prepared to help and-

A dead face met me.

I gasped and jumped back when I came almost nose to nose with the severed head of one of the owner's guards, the man's head was impaled on the whip he had once used on me and hanging off the tunnel's roof like a macabre decoration.

"I told you to wait." Came the woman's voice just from beyond the hanging head, and I gulped, her white mask was now painted red not only by the markings but by the blood that was dripping down her black kimono, her crimson blade bled, and I saw the corpses of various guards cut in pieces scattered like trash.

I had not heard a thing.

"How…" I asked incredulously.

"Where is it?" She asked, sobering me up. I didn't have any time to waste if I didn't want to end up like the guards.

The truth was that I had no idea, but I still went forward and walked by her before I entered the chamber at the end of the tunnel, the place was small, nothing more than an empty circular hole the size of a car.

And there was nothing in it.

Or so it appeared.

I stood at the center of the chamber, staring at the entrance and taking extra care to not even glance at the secret hole as the woman came inside and looked around, trying to spot her reward.

"Well?" she asked as her masked face finally pointed at me.

"You will help me, and my friends escape from here."

She took one step forward, a dangerous glint coming out of one of the mask's eyes. "Where is it."

"I won't tell you until you agree to my terms." I tried to sound as confident as I could while I did my best to ignore how much my legs were trembling under me.

"I already said I would help you escape, now where is it?"

I pointed to the left wall, the woman looked in the direction, and when she saw nothing, she turned back to me. Before she could either complain or slice my head off, I went towards the wall; there was a sharp pointy rock sticking out of it, and when I pulled it out, a piece of the wall also fell to the ground and shattered on the floor like glass.

A square hole was revealed.

And a white box laid inside it.

"There," I said. I took a step back, leaving the space open for the woman to come and get it herself, I didn't want to have anything to do with whatever was hidden inside the box.

She came to it and seemed to hesitate before grabbing on the box. She held it in her hands and stared at it like it was the greatest wonder in the world or something, it made me nervous, and I couldn't stop my mouth from speaking before I could think better of it.

"That's my part of the deal done."

"Indeed, it is," she said before she turned towards me. "But I don't think you need me to fulfill my end of the bargain, Faunus boy."

Fear got overruled by anger in my head, and I began to shout, "You promi-"

The cave shook.

Pieces of the ceiling fell, and part of the walls collapsed as the world beneath me trembled with primordial rage.

Then a second explosion threw me to the ground.

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**Kaboom! **

**And that's the end of the chapter, I hope you enjoyed the read, please remember to review! Even a few words can brighten me up for days, I enjoy knowing what you guys think of my work, so do please tell me. even if you have something negative to say.**

**Criticism is the best way to improve my skills as an Author.**

**Now for the questions!**

**Last Chapter's Question: What's your favorite type of Grimm?**

**I must say I will go with the Beowolves. Dogs and Wolves have always been my favorite animals and I have quite enjoyed watching the evolution from the entirely black wolves of the red trailer to the monstrous-looking Beowolves of Volume 7. The Beowolves are really the biggest proof that the studio is getting better and better with modeling and animation as time has passed. **

**Question of the Chapter: Which of the five kingdoms (I consider menagerie one of them) is your favorite, and why?**

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**Volume 1**

**Sub-Log 3: Arthur**

Report four, twenty.

I have been informed of two exciting developments. Both of which couldn't come at a better time. Running the mine is dreadfully dull.

The package will arrive tomorrow, I will have to hide it for a couple of weeks before the situation in Atlas calms down enough for me to be able to ship it to you, your highness, without any risk of it being stolen, or any chance of someone like Jacques getting wind of it.

I have heard those Faunus revolutionaries, The White Fang, I believe they call themselves have become more aggressive in their approach against the Schnee company and their businesses, not that I mind that since any sabotage against it does actually help with our plans but since I'm currently acting as an employee of said company, it does cause a little bit of a bother on my part.

Talking about Faunus. The boy, dear Adam, has shown excellent qualities of leadership and problem-solving. My personal experiment seems to be working quite nicely, I always keep the mines monitored with my drones, and I believe the boy will be ready to be ship off as well soon.

I may even send both together to you, your highness, if things go according to plan.

The rest of the children, sadly, I will have to dispose of them. None have quite picked my interest, so they are of no more use to me other than to stage my death to go back to you after the end of this assignment. This is a lucrative mine, so getting rid of it will impact the economy and politics of atlas quite nicely. It should speed our plans by at least a few years if I may say be so bold as to be positive.

Sadly, this is all the interesting tidbits that I have for this report… or not?

Oh, it seems little Adam is doing something suspicious near the waste bins, I wonder if he plans to try and use the waste truck to escape with his band of miscreants.

This will undoubtedly be interesting, I will report with the boy's new antics soon.

End of report four, twenty.

Arthur Watts.


	4. Log 4: The White Fang

**Warning: This work is rated T for a reason; there is Violence, Blood, Angst, and the mention of serious topics like racism and mental illness that merit this rating. This work of Fanfiction will never have any material that would send it over the edge to an M rating like Lemons or highly descriptive scenes of violence.**

**Salutations everybody!**

**REwrite: Adam has reached 100 follows! I'm really thankful to you all who enjoy reading my work, it is a humbling experience and it makes me very happy which I really need because High School is evil, that's all I have to say!**

**Nevertheless, here is the fourth chapter of REwrite: Adam. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I love writing it!**

**And as always, I do not own RWBY!**

**Enjoy!**

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**Volume 1**

**Log 4: The White Fang**

**Atlas – Watts' Mines – Northern Tunnels**

The tunnel trembled with the echoes of the explosions that reverberated in my ears like drums of war.

I couldn't do more than lay there in the ground with my arms over my head as pieces of the ceiling fell around me. A little voice inside my head kept screaming for me to run away, that it wasn't safe, but that part was quickly squashed down by the panic and terror mixing inside my brain like a cocktail.

"Catch," suddenly said the woman with the Grimm mask.

I glanced at her through a hole between my arms to find something sparkle in the air as it flew at me, I stood on my knees and felt the thing hit me right in the chest and fall to the ground.

A pistol from one of the dead guards lay between my legs.

I stared at it, forgetting about the rumbling and instead gingerly touching it with my fingers, wholly absorbed by the feeling of its smooth and cold texture under my fingertips.

"Don't beg for your freedom," said the woman, her voice calm, yet I could still hear it clearly over the chaos surrounding us. "Take your freedom back with your own hands."

She slashed the air next to her with her katana, and one of her red portals appeared out of thin air.

She stepped into the portal just as I screamed, "Wait!"

Her figure disappeared in the darkness, and only an echo of her words resonated through the falling rocks, "Good luck, Faunus boy."

The portal closed just as fast as it had appeared, and I was left there, kneeling in the ground surrounded by debris and shaking, unsure if it was the ground that trembled or my body.

And with a dead man's pistol in my hands.

I stood and ran.

The tunnels were collapsing, I could hear more explosions going on, and I ran unsteadily, having to keep my balance with the constant trembling and dodging the walls that broke apart and the pieces of the roof that came down on me.

I reached the main cave of the mines to find the place overrun by fire. The owner's tower had collapsed on itself and had burned like a sacrificial pyre, while half of the tent camps were also burning and creating a cloud of smoke.

I heard screaming and yelling coming out from that direction as well as the constant sounds of gunshots and shouting coming from the guards' barracks.

I ran toward the burning tents, the question of who could have dared to attack the mine popping up on the back of my head only to be promptly forgotten. I didn't care who was shooting at who as long as my family didn't get caught in the crossfire.

I needed to find Yuma and Trifa. I got to the edge of the tents to find children screaming and running like headless chickens in all directions. With no idea how to help them, I instead ran past and into the fire.

"Yuma!" I shouted while I hopped over a collapsed tent. "Trifa!" I slapped open a tent that had yet to caught fire only to find it empty, so I kept on running around screaming their names.

"Yuma!" I ran beside the broken remains of one of the larger tents I recognized as the one many of the younger kids used, "Trifa!" I had to go around another shelter that was on fire, but it was too big for me to dare to jump over it.

I caught sight of our tent, still intact and untouched by the fire, and I ran at it. "Yuma!"

I came closer, dodging a falling rock.

I came closer, jumping over the remains of a tent.

I reached the door, I charged through it.

And I smashed against the vast body of an adult.

The impact sent me backward out of the tent, and I heard a woman curse loudly while I rolled on the floor.

An adult was in our tent.

Maybe a guard.

Maybe a bandit.

An enemy.

I rose the gun, holding it badly between my two hands.

I pull the trigger.

The pistol shot with a loud bang that threw my arms high and made me lose my balance and fall on my ass. "Shit!" shouted the woman, and I saw the light of an orange aura light up behind the curtain doors of the tent.

A chain flew, cutting the tent apart and flying directly at me as I was trying to stand up. I aimed and pressed the trigger but missed entirely as the bullet flew away to the side just as the sharp tip of the chain smashed against the muzzle of my gun and blew it out of my unsteady hands.

A shadow flew out of the tent, it was too fast for me to keep it on my view and before I could think anything to do, I felt someone kick my legs from under me, and an arm grabbed me by the chest before I was pushed down to the floor and smashed against it.

My eyes shut close as I felt the dirt crash against my head, and a scream escaped my lips.

"A child?" said the woman pinning me down before she gasped in horror. "Your eye!"

I opened my eyes.

And found a Faunus.

The woman above me had dark skin and eyes that shined like gold. Her short spiked out hair did little to hide the massive cat-like ears crowning her head, but the most eye-catching aspect of her that made her look exotic was the red jewel in the center of her forehead.

"Sienna, what are you doing!" shouted another woman hidden by the smokes of a nearby burning tent. The woman holding me down, Sienna, unhanded me as she was distracted by the other adult and glanced away from me.

I used the chance to try and kick her, but she noticed it and pinned my leg down quickly with just one hand. "Calm down, kid. We are the cavalry."

"Sienna, answer me!" Suddenly, the other Faunus woman jumped over the fire and landed right next to Sienna. The newcomer's skin was much paler, and she was taller, but she also had short black hair crowned by cat ears and golden eyes that shined brightly as she stared down to her compatriot with something akin to annoyance.

Until her eyes landed on me.

"What are you doing to that boy!" she shouted and pushed Sienna away from me before she kneeled next to me.

"I wasn't doing anything to him. He shot me!" Sienna said, offended.

The pale woman grasped me gently by the back of my head and rose it up while completely ignoring Sienna. I saw the exact moment in her eyes when she noticed my brandmark. "Are you… oh, god!"

And she embraced me.

"Get away!" I spat the words against her chest and tried to push her, but her arms around me were like pillars, and she only pressed me further into her.

"Shhh, is okay. You are safe now. We will take care of you. We will take care of everyone." The fingers of her hand dug into my scalp, and I felt her nails comb my hair in a soft motion that made me hiccup and swallow my thoughts.

I stilled inside her arm, my eyes open like plates, but unable to see anything against her chest, my body trembled, and my breathing became erratic. I didn't understand what was going on. It was hard to make a coherent thought all of a sudden.

"Is fine, my dear, you are okay now, I'm here." Her words danced right into my ear, her scent of sweat and spices burning up my nose. My vision was slowly blurring.

It was hard to breathe. I didn't understand why and when I tried to tell the woman that I didn't believe her. My words couldn't come out. Air kept going up and down my mouth without my orders, and then it was when I realized.

I was crying.

I was crying.

The woman held me tighter.

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**Atlas – Watts' Mines – Main Cave**

It was sort of surreal. I almost felt like I was in a strange dream right now, and I was afraid to do anything that would wake me up from it. It felt nice, but at the same time, it was too strange for it to feel genuine.

I sat in a plastic chair, there have been no plastic chairs in the mines, not even for the guards. A warm pink sheet surrounded me, only my head and my hands popping out of it, making me look like a caricature burrito.

And in my hands?

I looked down at it, still confused by what I held.

A warm mug filled to the brim with a hot and sweet-smelling concoction I had never tasted in this life before.

Hot cocoa.

I had taken only one sip of it. The taste had been delightful, but I didn't know why I couldn't raise the mug again to take another sip; it was like my arms were glued to my knees.

The mines had changed so much in the span of an hour, most of the buildings were now smoking ruins, the fires long dead. The guards that had once held us, workers, at bay now all sat in the dirt bounded up in groups with chains like villains in a cartoon.

Adults walked here and there, helping, feeding, carrying, and consoling children whenever they went. But those adults, unlike the guards, they were not humans.

Faunus just like us.

The two cat women that had captured/saved me stood not too far away from me, talking in a way that I wasn't sure if they were pleased or annoyed, while their tone of voice was calm and happy their words weren't.

"We don't know how Arthur Watts escaped, the entrance is the only known route in and out, but he still managed to slip away," Sienna said.

"I don't like it either, but we managed to do what we came for. These children are more important than one human scum." The other woman crossed her arms and sighed.

"If you could convince Guira to take more immediate action…" Sienna started but was quickly interrupted by the other woman.

"Violence won't make things any better."

"For these kids, it did," Sienna said and turned to look at me while I did the best to appear like I was too occupied staring at my hot cocoa to notice them.

"Adam!" Trifa's voice snapped me back to reality, and I jumped off the chair, throwing some of the hot cocoa onto me and making me yelp. I couldn't do anything about it as the force of two bodies smashed against my side and threw me to the floor where they collapsed over me.

Trifa clung to my neck while Yuma embraced both of us and squashed us against his more significant body.

"You guys… are… going to kill me," I said, trying to get some air into my lungs but failing at it.

Neither of them let go off me.

"Look, they are just like kittens!" came the voice of the pale cat woman from above us, she was also cooing at us, and I felt my cheeks burn brightly.

"You are cleaning the litter box," Sienna said, at first glance, she appeared bored with her arms crossed, but she was smiling.

"Are you okay? I was so scared!" Trifa shouted on my ear, and I grimaced before putting my hand over her head to try and reassure her. Yuma sat on the floor and hauled both of us up so that we sat on his legs.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, children," Sienna said as she came to stand near us with the other woman standing beside her. "My name is Sienna Khan, and we are members of the White Fang, you are all safe now."

"I'm Kali Belladonna, by the way." The pale woman, Kali, leaned over us while waving with a gentle smile. The expression of her face almost made it hurt to watch because it made her look quite motherly.

"I will leave these kids with you, I will go check on things," Kali said to Sienna before she gave us another motherly smile and a wave. "You three stay safe, okay?"

Neither of us three said anything in response. The woman didn't seem to mind as she giggled at our confused faces and left with a wave of her hand. Sienna, on the other side, came closer to us, picked up the chair I had been using from the floor, and sat backward on it. She rested her head over her arms, and her ears twitched a little before she yawned like a cat getting comfortable.

She stared at us, and we stared back at her.

We stared at her, and she stared back at us.

Trifa fidgeted with her fingers.

The toes of Yuma's feet wiggled with the tension of his nerves.

I couldn't stand it anymore.

I frowned and did my best to stop my voice from shaking, "What is going to happen to us now?" My sudden words made both Yuma and Trifa look at me with worry.

"Hmm, it may take some time, but the plan now would be to get everyone back to safety."

"And what is 'safety'" I asked.

Sienna smiled with a dangerous glint shining in her eyes, "Nice question, though I'm curious as to why you are so reserved, boy… oh." Her cat ears suddenly stood up. "I haven't asked your names yet, have I? mind telling me?"

"First, tell me why we should trust you," I said.

Trifa grabbed my arm. "Adam!" she shook me, but I ignored her for now, keeping my eyes on Sienna, whose smirk was only growing fuller before she seemed to snap.

She bashed the chair and stomped the floor as she let a loud snort. "So your name is Adam, is pretty. But to answer your question, I got to ask you another one, do any of you have ever heard of the White Fang?"

Yuma shook his head. I shrugged for an answer while Trifa took it upon herself to be our voice, "White Fang?"

Sienna nodded and leaned closer to us by tilting the chair. "We are an organization of Faunus, for Faunus. Publicly we work as an activist group to fight for the rights of our people against human oppression," Sienna said before her face lost that air of happiness and turned sour as she leaned closer to us and began whispering, "but when politicking doesn't work we also take a more… direct approach to ensure the betterment of all Faunus, we fight for our kind."

Her sour expression disappeared as suddenly as it had come, and she let the chair fall back to its original position as Sienna took back a calmer demeanor, and her smile returned. "I hope that answers your question as to who we are and why you can trust us. As for what 'safety' means depends a lot, you three seem to be some of the oldest kids around, so I would like to recruit you, but if not, we will try and get you back home or find new ones for everyone."

"Recruit us into the White Fang?" Yuma said, and I could clearly hear the interest in his voice, something I didn't genuinely like.

The idea of going home felt almost like a dream come true, too good to be the truth, but it was there in front of me.

And I wanted my siblings with me.

"We want to go home," I said, as a matter of fact, making all three of them turn to look at me, Yuma and Trifa seemed confused while Sienna's expression became unreadable.

"Then…" Sienna said, a grin forming in her lips. "Home it is."

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**Anima – Northern Zone – Bullhead Passenger's Cabin**

Cold drool was dripping down the sleeve of my borrowed oversized sweater, Yuma snores made him sound like a drunken man drowning on his own saliva as he slept on my shoulder.

I still did not understand how either Yuma or Trifa managed to sleep here, thousands of miles up in the sky in what was quite literally just a flying can. Yes, the helicopter-like vehicle called a Bullhead was quite steady and way quieter than a helicopter would be.

But still.

We are thousands of miles up in the sky, thousands upon thousands upon thousands of miles up in the air in a flying piece of metal and I felt like if this thing moved the wrong way it would burst into flames and we would all fall to our death because the two crazy cat women from the white fang had decided to stand with the sliding doors wide open so they could hang around the edge while they talked of nothing in particular.

I didn't know if to call them daredevils or suicidal. I just kept acting like I was also asleep to avoid any risk of being dared to get near the doors.

I wasn't interested in their talk until we came into their conversation.

"Those three could be good warriors. I'm going to speak to their mother." Sienna said.

"Warriors? You keep talking like we are some sort of army," Kali said, sounding quite annoyed as if this wasn't the first time they had this kind of dispute. "They are children, Sienna, children that should have a nice peaceful life away from the problems of adults."

"The survival of our kind is not like you say, 'the problem of adults.' Is the problem of all Faunus, and we need more people, more fighters to protect our trucks and guard our agents, those three are strong I can tell that."

Kali groaned loudly before she responded, "They are just children. If we are going to talk with their mother about anything, it will be about relocating their whole family to a safer place. They will all be better off in Menagerie than in Mistral territory."

There was a heavy silence that sat between the two women after that, I wanted to see what they were doing, but I forced my eyes to remain shut so they wouldn't notice me eavesdropping.

After a minute or two, Sienna said, "I will still try to recruit them."

"I won't allow you to try and start creating child soldiers, you want to recruit them fine, but only when they are older, the youngest of them, Adam, is only two years older than my daughter, for god sake."

"Good instincts need to be molded since childhood. I heard Guira was already giving the basic to your daughter."

Kali grunted, and I heard her walk away, and near us, as she went into the cockpit, Sienna sighed, and I thought that would be the end of their dispute until suddenly…

"Sienna!" Kali shouted loud enough to make me flinch, disturbing Trifa, who had been sleeping with her head on my lap but not Yuma who's head just rode my shoulder.

I opened my eyes and found Sienna's golden eyes glancing back at me before she ran into the cockpit, Trifa righted herself in her seat with her face clouded still with sleep but also worry.

"What's going on?" she asked, but all I could do was grab her hand and squeeze for an answer.

Her lips slimmed down into a thin line of concern, and she nudged herself closer to me.

Kali and Sienna came out of the cockpit, Sienna ignored us and went to the back while Kali noticed that Trifa and I were awake, and the emotions written in her face worried me.

Surprise, pity, fear.

Sienna took her chain whips and wrapped it around her arm. I also noticed that Kali was now holding a pistol in her hand that seemed to have come out of nowhere.

"What is going on?" I asked, and I felt Yuma stir beside me.

Sienna and Kali looked at each other, their expressions soured even more before Kali nodded, and Sienna spoke, "Something happened in your village, we don't know what."

I stood.

Yuma fell, Trifa gasped.

"Adam!" Kali shouted when one of my feet left the floor, and I ran to the open doors. I needed to know what she meant, what happened. I needed to find out.

I took three steps and felt a hard tug on the collar of my sweater that almost made me slip to the floor if it wasn't because of the arm that held me up,

"Careful!" Came Sienna's angry whisper over my head. I looked at her, desperation dripping off my face and she closed her eyes and let go of my sweater but instead, I felt her hand quickly grab mine as I went to the doors, she didn't stop me but didn't unhand me either.

We weren't as high as I had imagined, only flying above the canopy of the pines trees I remembered.

I searched for the village.

My blood ran cold. My knees felt soggy.

There was no village.

There were ruins.

Broken and ruined cabins of wood, most of them only showcasing burnt pieces of themselves poking out of the thick snow.

"We are landing," Kali said, her words sounding muffled on my ears.

I hardly recognized the place below us. The village's plaza was almost unrecognizable, with most of the buildings turned into dust and rubble. The bullhead slowly came to the ground, and it wasn't fast enough.

I jumped off.

"Adam!" I heard Trifa shout as the ground came to me.

I smashed my feet in the ground, my knees collapsed onto themselves, and I fell on the ground on my butt with every fiber of my legs aching in protest, but I didn't care, my hands came to the earth and pushed me up ignoring the cries of mercy my feet asked for.

I ran.

Footsteps behind me.

I ran.

I was so close.

I ran.

Around the corner between the ruins of a house.

I ran.

I got home…

Funny, the door was closed. I chuckled and came into the front yard. We didn't even have much of one. Mom only had a few flowers in it that I couldn't name, but those were now all gone. I didn't really mind that much since I was sure I was a bit allergic to them, they always made my eyes itch when I got too close. Even now that they were gone, they still made my eyes itch a little.

I arrived at the door, and I smiled fondly, I looked down at the brown doormat that had the word 'welcome' written on it, mom always made sure to remind me that there was a spare key under it every single time we went out of the house together even if it was to go to the neighbor's house for a visit.

I crouched and pulled the doormat up, finding the spare key just where it should be, I took it and for a moment, I let it rest in my open palm, enjoying the feeling of the cold metal against my skin.

"Adam?" Sienna's voice said behind me, she sounded worried, but I didn't understand why. I was finally home. Maybe she was concerned about meeting my mom? My mom could be scary, but she was the nicest woman in this world.

She was the nicest woman in the world.

She was… my eyes were blurry, and it made me giggle. I was finally home. It wasn't a good time to start crying. I didn't want mom to see me crying just as I arrived.

"Adam, let's go back." Sienna grasped my shoulder, but I shook it off.

I put the spare key on the keyhole, turning it and hearing the click as the door unlock it.

I opened the door and saw the auburn sky greeting me on the other side, laughing, mocking.

The only thing left of my house was the door.

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**Anima – Northern Zone – Bullhead Passenger's Cabin**

Sienna Khan had seen many things in her life, horrible things that had melted themselves into her memory forever, that haunted her many times at night under the covers of her bed.

But it was never fear that kept her awake. Fear was pure emotion, one she had learned to harvest and use for her benefit. Fear was a tool to be controlled and use.

Both your own fear and those of others.

No, what kept Sienna awake was her failures.

She gripped the metal handle of the Bullhead's door tighter, doing her best to try and ignore the children sitting at the seats on the other side.

The silence coming from them was louder than the bullhead's engines.

The journey to the nearest white fang outpost was filled with that dreadful silence, that poison Sienna couldn't do shit about other than eat it raw and clench her fists against it.

Sienna remained there, vigilant and near the kids, until the Bullhead landed and Kali and the pilot came out of the cockpit, members of the base came running to greet them and take care of their vehicle and Sienna watched as Kali and another woman with a dog's tail guided the children to one of the tents before Sienna went the other way.

She pushed the flap that was the makeshift door of the main tent, zeroed on the nearest chair, and walked up to it before letting her tired bones just drop unceremoniously on the poor thing.

Sienna closed her eyes and hanged her head against her shoulder.

She heard the flap been open again, but she didn't open her eyes to see who it was, she already knew.

Kali sighed, sorrow clear in her tone as she spoke, "That attack…"

"Humans," Sienna spit the word with as much malice as she could get out of her system.

"We don't know that," Kali said, and Sienna groaned at her deflection. She then heard the scrapping of another chair as Kali sat.

Sienna opened her eyes and leaned forward, already too annoyed with her friend to hide it, "Kali, admit it already. We both know that wasn't a Grimm attack, there would have been blood all over the place, the people of that town were taken."

"Then, we will search for them and rescue them."

Sienna groaned again, clenching her hands in frustration. "And then what? Are we going to wrap up the humans again like a gift for their own authorities to judge? They will go free just like always and just do it again, but with more guards. Kali, there is no talking with them."

Kali's voice came softer, "We have to keep trying-"

"No, what we need is to fight back, fight back for real. Humans won't stop until they understand that we are dangerous." Sienna stood up from the chair and frowned at her dearest friend, seeing Kali frown as well.

"That would make us no better than a terrorist."

Sienna chuckled and walked toward the entrance, she opened and took a step outside before she stopped and glanced over her shoulder. "Then maybe we should be terrorists."

She went out, not waiting for Kali's response.

As Sienna walked through the camp, men and women bowed their heads in respect to her, these Faunus knew of the horrors of the human world just like her, Sienna loved Kali as her dearest friend, but the Belladonna had grown up in Menagerie, the only safe haven of the Faunus in all of Remnant.

Kali didn't know the horrors of the human world.

She still thought of humans as people.

But they weren't people.

Humans were monsters, and you didn't talk with monsters. You scared them enough, so they left you alone.

But although Sienna was respected and many in the white fang heard her voice, she wasn't the leader, nor did she have a good claim for the rank yet. She needed more people with her same view.

Sienna reached the tent where she had seen Kali lead the children in before, she tugged her head inside the entrance and found two of the kids inside, the girl with short bluish-gray hair and the taller boy with spiky brown-hair and bat wings on his back. The red hair wasn't there.

Neither of the two was facing the entrance, and they had not noticed her yet.

"Where is your brother?" Sienna asked, and she felt a smirk tug on her lips when she saw both kids flinch.

The girl was the one that answered with her shy demeanor, "I, uh, I don't really know, he said he was going to walk around, I guess."

Sienna's tiger ears could hear a lie with ease, but she decided against calling out the girl for it. She instead nodded and thanked her before leaving.

She spotted one of the outpost guards standing nearby with a gun in hand and came towards him.

The man noticed her, and she motioned with her hand. "Did you see where the redhaired kid went?"

"Yeh." The man pointed behind him and toward some bushes with his thumb. "Saw him going over there with a stick on his hand, maybe bug hunting? I did that a lot when I was his age, the cockroaches round here are especially sweet."

Sienna decided not to make any comments about that tidbit of information. "Thank you," she said and went on her way, following Adam's steps.

She expected the boy to be hiding just beyond the bushes but found the clear there empty. An angry yell pierced through the forest, and her ears twitched. Sienna turned left and went in the direction of the sound.

She now could clearly hear the boy's steady shouts, she came near a tree and hid under its shadows before she peered over and smiled.

The boy was holding onto a stick that was too large to be of any good use for practice. Adam held it funnily, with both hands gripping the lower portion way to close to each other, and he was swinging it wildly, managing to spin himself around with the weight of the stick.

She saw him swing once, twice, three times, and then stepped out of the shadows just as he began his fourth swing. "What are you doing?"

The boy yelped like a kicked dog, and the stick flew out of his hands, and toward Sienna, who quickly caught it with one hand before it hit her in her face, Sienna noticed the weight of the stick and She arched an eyebrow.

It seems the mines at least kept his muscles in good shape to hold onto a stick this heavy.

The boy quickly recovered his composure. "Training."

Sienna smirked and threw the stick back at him, Adam tried to catch it but failed miserably as the piece of wood slipped just between his arms to fall on the ground.

Adam followed suit and fell on his knees, making Sienna lose her smirk as she remembered what this boy had just gone through. She hated this kind of situations, Kali was the one that was good with kids, that's why she got herself one five years ago.

"Is…is my mom dead?" the boy suddenly asked. And Sienna felt her ears flatten against her hair in response to the pathetic tone of voice the kid had.

She really wasn't good with kids.

Sienna walked up to him, looming over the broken boy and considering what to answer. Depending on who had raided the village, most chances were that the boy's mother had been sold to slavery. It would be an excellent motivator to finish breaking him so Sienna could rebuild him as her own weapon, but then the boy would also always be looking out to find his mother…

That would undoubtedly be… inconvenient.

"Yes," she said, Sienna kneeling and held his chin with one finger so his pitiful burnt eye would look her right into her golden ones. "Killed by humans, like so many others."

The boy sobbed, and Sienna let go of his chin before she stood up and turned around. She would at least give him this moment before she began working him into what she needed.

Before she could take a step, a small hand grasped her by her ankle, and she glanced back to find the boy's blue eye burning with cold anger.

"Let me join the white fang, please!" He begged.

And Sienna smiled.

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**And that would be the end of the chapter, This chapter was honestly kinda hard to write for me, I don't like torturing people but I feel I'm somewhat doing that to poor Adam.**

**But one thing I want to mention is that I like to create a lot of plot bunnies, which I plan to use way later on. The Keeper is one of those and also, this White Box Raven wanted to much will come into play later in the story. **

**Do remember to review! A few words can brighten up my day and I especially need a self-esteem boost now that high school is around to bash me in the head repeatedly. I enjoy knowing your opinions about my work, even if you have something negative to say. **

**I can't become a better writer otherwise. **

**Now for the questions!**

**Last Chapter's Question: Which of the five Kingdoms (I consider menagerie one of them) is your favorite, and why?**

**For me, the answer is simple, Atlas! I like how sci-fi it is and the idea of living in a city floating in the sky is just so good!**

**Question of the Chapter:**** What's your favorite weapon of RWBY so far?**

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**Volume 1**

**Sub-Log 4: Kali**

We arrived at the location.

It is, it is nothing like I thought it would be, you know. I came thinking of all these nightmarish visions of what it would look like from the outside, but it doesn't appear to be that way, I'm hoping the inside of the so-called illegal mines look the same.

It doesn't really make me feel any relieved, to think that something so innocent as clean white walls could hide something like this makes me wonder what else is hidden all over the world beneath a pretty surface.

What scares me the most is that sometimes it makes me think Sienna is right.

We are hiding outside the droid's perimeter, the mine itself seems to only be a large cave in the mountains, there is a tall wall, and Sienna has seen more Atlesian droids patrolling above it than our informant confirmed.

I don't know what we will find inside it… if the information is correct, this is an illegal operation, and to keep it hidden, the informant told us they are using children as workers. I'm praying we are wrong, Guira. I'm praying we are wrong.

The weather here is terrible, is so cold that even Sienna is wearing a sweater, I tried to take a picture of her, but I'm afraid she would have tried to shatter my scroll if she noticed it. There doesn't seem to be any storms coming out this way so tomorrow's extraction should work without any issues, but it seems it never stops snowing either, so we won't be waiting comfortably either. At least we haven't seen any kind of Grimm around here.

I don't know if the lack of those creatures is a good omen or not.

We do have confirmation that Arthur Watts it's in there, as one of the most influential of the board members of the Schnee if we can capture him and showcase what he has been doing here to the world we could strike a massive hit against them, one not even their big pockets would be able to cover up.

I know you don't like it, I know you don't approve of this plan, and I don't like violence either, but I can't stand idle while knowing children are being worked like slaves.

I had a nightmare, I saw our little Blake in a cave, holding a pickaxe taller than her. And I couldn't, I couldn't sleep anymore thinking that had life been different it really could have been our daughter there inside those walls.

At this point, I don't really care if we manage to capture Watts.


	5. Log 5: The Black Kitten

**Warning: This work is rated T for a reason; there is Violence, Blood, Angst, and the mention of serious topics like racism and mental illness that merit this rating. This work of Fanfiction will never have any material that would send it over the edge to an M rating like Lemons or highly descriptive scenes of violence.**

**Salutations everybody!**

**As you may see after this update, I have deleted all of the sub-logs, and I won't be adding any more sub-logs with each chapter. I will be trying out something new in the future with the Sub-Logs that I hope is better. If you guys want, I can re-add the old sub-logs as an added thing to their respective chapters at the end of the author's notes.**

**Nevertheless, here is the fifth chapter of REwrite: Adam. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I love writing it!**

**And as always, I do not own RWBY!**

**Enjoy!**

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**Volume 1**

**Log 5: The Black Kitten**

**Anima – The City of Mistral – Plaza of Laws**

Home?

The word got me out of my thoughts, and I turned to look down below where the streets were filled with protesters and their army of wooden signs, the hundred or so demonstrators had been corralled inside the main road leading to the Plaza of Laws where the police stood on a cordoned line just ahead of the demonstration, and curious humans stayed behind the police force.

There was a big, burly man with bunny ears standing just in front of the police and giving them his back. Instead, he looked up to his fellow Faunus protesters and kept screaming to the top of his lungs into the megaphone he held. "Mistral is our home as much as theirs! We deserve better!"

"We deserve better!" the crowd shouted back.

"I'm jealous," I whispered bitterly, I meant it to be an off-comment, just a random thought said out loud, but Trifa heard it anyway.

"Huh?" she asked from where she sat on the closest bed to the door of the room, and I glanced at her, Trifa returned my look with curiosity for a moment before she frowned, scoffed and went back to stuffing more fireworks into her bag.

I sighed.

We were currently inside the room of a hotel just above the peaceful demonstration. The room was bare-bones with only a pair of beds, Yuma's duffel bag laying between the two beds and a clock hanging beside the bathroom door.

Yuma himself was in the bathroom, I heard him curse as he worked there, and I went back to watching the protest while I sat on the rim of the singular glassless window of the apartment.

The man at the front kept shouting and riling up the crowd with his words. The signs of the people flew on the air with words like 'Justice' and 'Equality' written on them, and it was hard not feeling a slight sense of pity.

Those people on the street probably knew just as much as I did that everything they were doing was a waste of time. The mankind of the world of Remnant barely deserved the name. Sienna had taught me a lot about how this world operated, and the only feeling I had left for humans was disgust.

I felt the breeze caress my skin, and I pulled up my black scarf higher to cover up my mouth with it.

"Good to go," Yuma said behind me, and I turned to watch my older brother of everything but blood. Time and training with Sienna had changed all of us since when we were slaves three years ago, but Yuma had been the one that changed the most.

If it wasn't for the small wings coming out of his back that showed that he was a bat Faunus, he could have totally passed instead for a bear one. Yuma was tall, muscled, and even at the age of twelve, he was already showing a bit of hair coming out of his chin.

I glanced at the clock of the room. "We are still on time, make some more."

"Roger." Yuma went back into the bathroom, probably not happy about it since I knew he hated working with the fireworks. I watched his back as he went through the door, and I sighed, getting another mean glance from Trifa in the process that I returned with an annoyed one.

"Hm!" she lashed out with her chin towards me before going back to her work, and I sighed again.

Today wasn't my day.

I went back to viewing the protest, paying close attention to the man at the front before something else caught my attention. At the edge of the crowd to the right, almost below my window, was a girl holding a sign roughly her own size.

I couldn't stop myself from smiling and snorting at the sight of the black-haired cat girl, from here she reminded me somewhat of Kali Belladonna, almost as if she was a mini version of the cat woman that always tried to convince my siblings and me to go to menagerie with her when she visited the Mistral base.

The poor girl was swinging the sign in the air, trying to keep it up, it was a rather silly-looking sight to behold, but at the same time, it was fun to watch. Uhm, I gave her at least two more minutes before she lost control of the sign.

The girl's cat ears were plastered against her head, and she fought to keep the sign up even when she also went and joined on the chorus of voices each time the man leading the protests shouted another empty word at them to repeat.

Thinking of that soured my mood.

Words were worthless. Only actions made the humans listen.

I rechecked the clock, and I stood from the window. I rummaged one pocket of my pants and then took out a pair of large black glasses that were big enough to cover up the entirety of my brandmark. "Is time."

Trifa nodded and grabbed the two plastic bags around her. Yuma came out of the bathroom, holding onto two pairs of bags on each hand and walked towards me.

I took a pair from him, and then I lead the way out of the apartment in silence. We moved in a line through the corridor, and I glanced back to see them.

"Last chance to back out," I said.

Yuma scoffed like he was offended, and Trifa frowned before she said, "I don't like you, but you are still my little brother and our leader, so keep moving."

I couldn't stop another loud sigh from coming out of my mouth and then a groan after Yuma decided to chuckle over my suffering. Yesterday I found the hard way that not all Faunus had pronounced characteristics to showcase what kind of Specie they were, while some had horns like me or wings like Yuma or cat ears like the girl outside.

Some weren't obvious.

"I said I was sorry," I apologized again only to hear Trifa scoff.

"You may be good at coming up with plans like today's one, but you are still an idiot, Leader," Trifa said, putting a sarcastic emphasis on the last word. I had seen the grey vein-like markings in her body many times, but I didn't know those somehow made her a spider. Unlike most other Faunus, I seemed to lack the ability to understand what kind everyone was on a glance, and I was paying dearly for that.

We came out of the hotel in silence. The entrance was on the other side of the building of where the protests were held, and I lead us to an alley next to us that was closed off by a metal fence.

We reached the fence, and I turned around to look at my siblings. I took a deep breath and saw them do it too. Our nerves systems all fried up with the tension of the moment. I nodded to them, and they nodded back.

I walked to one wall and then got in position while holding tightly to my bags. I sprinted toward the other wall, smashing my feet against it and jumping over the fence with ease.

Trifa came next, and Yuma followed, and we were inside the cordoned area without any police officers knowing about it.

We walked out of the alley and right into the protest. "Good luck," I said but unsure if Trifa and Yuma heard me as we separated. They already knew where to go.

I stayed at the edge of the demonstration, nobody would pay attention to a lone ten-year-old kid like me with all their eyes on the man shouting at the front, but I didn't want to risk it by trying to fight my way to my spot through the crowd.

I felt the bags slipping from my hands, and I had to grit them hard. The weather was cold, and the sun was hidden beyond the towering mountains of Mistral, yet I was still sweating rivers, and I could swear anyone near me would have been able to hear my heart with how hard it was beating.

As I walked around the crowd, I saw a cat ear twitch, and then found the black-haired girl in front of me, only two adults separating us and hiding me away from her.

"Equality!" she shouted with the crowd, she rose her sign above her head and fought to keep it balanced there.

I kept walking forward, I still thought the girl was silly, and I wanted to see the sign fall over her head, but I didn't have time to watch, I walked around the adults and next to her on my way to the front side of the protests.

She squinted at me for a moment, and I couldn't stop myself from keeping my face straight but sticking my tongue out at her, startling the girl and making her finally lose her balance as the sign fell backward and carried her with it as she shrieked, "Eh!"

I chuckled and kept on my way.

I quickly reached the front, only a dozen legs of adults between me and the police.

"We are tired!" shouted the leader of the protest over his megaphone. "We are hungry! Mistral is our home as much as theirs! We deserve better!"

I shook the bags on my hands hard, as hard as I could without making a show out of it, suddenly one of them began to sizzle, and a second later the other one did too, I dropped them on the floor and turned.

I was in the thick of the crowd, I couldn't run, but I dodged around a man and pushed my way between a couple. I didn't look back even if I felt the itch in the back of my head to do so, I had to get away, I had to run away.

"Hey, you!" I heard a girl shout behind me, but I didn't look, I kept on dodging and moving around people to get away, I had to run.

Then came the crackling and the whistling, and suddenly the air above filled with fireworks of all colors that muted the crowd with utter confusion.

"We are under attack!" shouted one of the Mistral officers.

And chaos erupted.

As more fireworks flew into the sky from within the crowd, the people panicked and screamed, they ran and pushed each other to get away, many even attempted to go through the police line only to get pushed back into the sea of madness and discord that had become the streets.

I kept swimming on that sea, doing my best to go to my designated alleyway to escape, my nerves were shattering inside me, and I knew even if the plan had been successful, I would not calm down until I got out of here and made sure Yuma and Trifa also did.

Even if I had been the one coming up with the plan, I still hated that each of us had a different escape route. It made us less suspicious, and it was safer overall, but not having my siblings near me as I trashed my way out of the mad crowd still made this situation more hellish inside my head.

I got out of the mad horde of running people like a fish jumping out of the water and found myself right on my designated alleyway, and I ran in, and around the corner, I kept going through the back of buildings until the cries of the people became a distant echo and then I went left into the last alley that ended up in a dead-end with a high wall. I smiled and zeroed on the outdoor staircase that was propped up on one side of the alleyway

The bottom section of the stairs had been pulled up, but I knew I could reach it, I just had to get some buildup going by jumping to the wall and…

"Hey, wait!" a girl shouted, and I glimpsed back to find the black-haired girl running behind me. She was out of breath, sweating bullets, and breathing harshly, yet I was still shocked that she was able to keep up with me while also still carrying her large sign.

I felt a cold panic seep into my bones, the girl must have seen me drop the bags.

I reached the end of the alley, I leaped and landed on the wall before I pushed myself off it and flew towards the staircase. I smashed against its railing and quickly got over it before I stole a look below to find the girl still looking at me with her mouth wide open.

She didn't say a thing, I didn't say a word.

I ran.

Up the stairs, without taking a break, I ran in circles without stopping and even ignoring the girl when she pleaded again, "Wait!"

"Boyo, look here!" a third, gritty, and masculine voice came from below, and I hesitated halfway through a step and peered down through the cracks of the staircase beneath my feet.

Humans.

Four adults had come out of the corner of the alleyway and were getting closer to the girl that now held her sign like a shield between herself and the men.

"What's a Faunus doing here?" asked one of the men that had a balding head. The girl didn't answer, and they came at her like hyenas, laughing as they backed the girl against the wall.

I watched all this while in the back of my head, two different thoughts fought for dominance. My cold head found the situation to be perfect. The girl was the only witness to our mission, and these humans would deal with her, and I wouldn't have to worry about failing Sienna.

But then…

A skinny man jumped closer to the girl and grasped her sign, "No!" she shouted and fought to keep it, but the man was stronger and took it away between the laughing of his friends.

She was already doomed. Her chances were none, and even if I were to interfere, I was only a kid compared to four adult men. I wasn't so stupid to believe I was strong enough, even with my training to take on all of them and come out uncasted.

The bald man grabbed her wrist, and she clawed at his arm with no effect, she screamed, and the man laughed.

I wasn't a hero. This wasn't my fight, and I couldn't let it be my last either. I demanded my leg to finish the step. I shouted inside my head for my limbs to move, but…

"Please, help me!" The girl cried with her voice breaking apart.

And my limbs moved, my feet smashed on the stair's floor, my arms grasped the railing, I wasn't sure what I was doing, and my head was one step behind my body, and I only understood what I had done as vertigo kissed my loins and I felt gravity snatch me away.

My shoes crashed on the bald man's head, and he went down headfirst to the ground right in front of the girl while I rolled on the floor and ended up next to her.

"Boyo!" shouted another thug. He came to me before I could stand, he jumped me, and he fell above me as we came down to the floor.

His fist flew to my face, and the red light of my aura sparkled to life as his knuckles smashed against it, and he cried out. My knee came up and struck him between the legs, and he gasped and went limp enough for me to push him away.

I went to stand up. My eyes stole a view of the girl hiding in the corner, trembling like a leaf before one of the men caught me by my scarf and pulled me up. "I will kill you, boy!"

I shouted incoherently at him and smashed my fist on his chest, but the man didn't even shiver, he pulled me in the air and threw me to the wall.

My red aura lighted up again as I smashed against the concrete. I grunted through the pain and fell to the ground on my knees, only to find a shadow looming over me as I looked to the floor.

"Kid!" the man shouted, the shadow coming closer with claws grasping for me.

I jumped off the floor, head first.

My horns crashed against the man's stomach, I heard the crackling of my aura beginning to fail as the man stepped away from me, holding onto his belly.

I rose my fist.

The man leaned against his belly, holding onto it as he gasped for air.

I Aimed at the man's head.

He looked up, and the glint from my black glasses reflected inside his terrified eyes.

My fist fell.

And the sound of an explosion blasted against my ear before a bullet crashed against the side of my head

My aura sparkled for the last time as the shot ricocheted off it, and my aura then collapsed like broken glasses and disappeared on thin air while the impact of the bullet carried me away and made me fall to the ground.

The fourth man had a gun.

I saw him point it at me again, I watched the void inside its barrel and felt time disappear, and death gave me a careless whisper and a kiss behind my ear.

The thug's finger on the trigger, pressing, moving.

Suddenly the girl latched onto his arm, the gun pointed down and fired at the ground where it bounced off it and disappeared.

I pushed myself off the floor, my feet skidding in the cobblestones. I rose my feet on a kick high above my head.

The man threw the girl away, and she cried out. He went to point the gun back at me only for the barrel to meet my shoe and fly up.

I landed crouched on the ground, I got up to find the man's fists already coming.

I dodged one but couldn't the second that smashed against my cheek.

I came forward, ignoring the raw sting in my cheek as I jumped on the man and pushed my feet against his legs.

"You freaking kid!" he shouted as I used him as a trampoline, and I flew up with my eyes zeroing on the falling gun.

The burning, hot barrel came down first, and I caught it on my hand before I pulled it down.

The man looked up to find me. My weight and gravity added strength to my hand, and the gun's grip came down like a guillotine against the man's nose.

I heard the snap of bone and the cry of the man as he fell on his knees, holding onto his broken nose. I grabbed the gun tighter and smashed it against his head once more to knock him out.

Hands slithered inside my armpits, and I was then elevated in the air, I glanced back and found the third thug still up and spilling saliva from his mouth like a rabid animal, but I couldn't do anything as he threw me against the wall.

I bounced off the wall and lost my grip of the gun, but the man didn't go for it and charged at me like a bull grasping me by my stomach and pulling me up as he shouted a curse, and I screamed back at him.

He smashed me on the wall and kept pushing to squash me like a bug. I pressed my feet against the wall and pushed back until it became a battle between our wills.

His feet against the ground, mine against the wall.

The might of a man, the desperation of a child.

The anger of a human, the fury of a bull.

His arms against my chest, his face on my neck.

My scream on his ear.

"I will kill you!"

I blasted off the wall, the man lost his balance and came backward with me, pushing us both to the ground and my hand on his chin and the back of his head spearheading our fall.

His head collided with the floor, the cobblestones giving way to his skull, knocking him out in an instant.

I was on top of him, feeling bones I didn't know I had crying out because of the many aches I felt. I crawled off the man and sat in the ground, and I couldn't stop myself from chuckling.

I still didn't know who had shouted that last time, it could have been the man, it could have been me. I didn't know, and I found I didn't care.

Adrenaline still flew through my veins, making me feel giddy. I laughed.

It stung my lungs, it hurt my chest, yet I laughed some more.

Until the whimper of a girl made me snap out from my fantasy back into reality.

She was down on the floor in the corner, and she wasn't the only one groaning. Two of the men were waking up, and I was sure I wouldn't last a minute against one of them with how badly my knees were shaking, and my head was pounding.

So, I went with the bravest plan I could come up with.

I grabbed the girl's hand, she looked at me with disbelief, and I whispered as harshly as I could, "Run!"

I didn't wait for her to get up. I ran, holding her hand on a death grip as we turned around a corner and kept on going through the labyrinth of alleyways with no real plan of where the hell I was going.

After a fourth turn, the girl tugged on my hand, and with all my adrenaline used up, I began to walk slower.

"Plea- please, stop," she said between breaths, and I turned around with a smile on my face.

"Seems we gave them the boot, huh?" I said with laughter clinging to my voice, this was the first time I had fought someone and walked out of it, and it felt…

Amazing.

"I… yeah…" the girl leaned down, and I saw her wobbling. She let go of my hand and took a step to the side while she held onto her stomach, and I finally felt the giddiness inside me run dry as instead, worry took over me.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I waited for an answer, but then one of her legs gave up, and she began to topple to the side like a broken building.

I caught her in my arms, holding onto her and feeling something gush out of her belly and into my shirt, wetting it all. I kept holding onto the girl's shoulders but pushed her slightly away from me to see what it was only to gasp.

Her gray shirt was now black with moisture. Warm blood poured from her stomach and dripped down to the floor between us. The realization hit me, and horror spread through my eyes.

"You were shot?" the question barely came out of my lips like a breath.

Her legs couldn't keep up, and I let her down softly with me, she rested on the ground and tried to bring one of her hands to her wound, but I grasped hers with mine to keep it away while I kneeled next to her.

I had no idea what I was doing as I pulled her shirt up to see the wound, it was a perfectly round hole just above her belly button, and blood was gushing out of it like if it was a broken tap.

I couldn't do more than hover my hands over her wound and panic in silence as I watched her life bleed out of that hole. I didn't know anything about how to do first aids, nor did I have anything at hand to help me but my desperation.

I was panicking, I was shaking and then, and then…

Black hands crawled down my arms. The dark figure embraced me from behind.

"I carry your pain," came his gurgling voice right beside my ear.

I felt cold seeping into my bones, my panic dying, and my heart beating slower and slower, almost as if it was about to stop. My skin became clammy, and the black hands grasped my wrists and took control of my hands.

The dark figure guided my hands closer to the wound until my fingers pressed against the bloodied skin around it.

"Will you carry hers?" It asked.

I didn't know this dark-haired, cat-eared girl.

Her life was a danger to mine.

The implications frightened me.

But my own thoughts… those terrified me more.

She was bleeding out in front of me, the blood pooling on the ground and latching onto my knees.

"Yes."

As the word came out of my lips, a black fire ignited on the girl's wound, the blood stopped flowing, and the skin began to mend itself as the ashes of the fire covered the hole.

Fire burst out of my stomach, a searing pain making me lose my breath, but I kept on holding onto the girl, I saw her wound finally close just as I noticed how now the one feeding the puddle of blood below us wasn't her anymore.

It was me.

My arms were trembling, but they still obeyed and pulled up my shirt only for me to find that now the gunshot wound was in my stomach, the same place where it had been in the girl before.

The black hands of the dark figure unlatched from my skin and quickly began to disappear like smoke going away with the wind that wasn't here, leaving me alone with the unconscious girl.

I stood, my legs barely keeping me up, and I wobbled my way to the wall where I rested most of my body for support. My hand pressed against the wound, and although it hurt like the devil, I kept pushing on it, hoping I could somehow stop the bleeding with it.

I left, leaving a trail of my own blood that started on that pool where the girl still laid.

A pool made of the blood of two, turn to one.

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**Anima – The City of Mistral – Dark Alleyway**

Lighting struck the air. Blake's golden eyes blasted open with panic. Her chest flew up, and she sat in the ground, confused as to where she was.

The sounds of the city were washed away by the rain. The water around her had become a dark puddle where some remains of her blood still slithered inside like the tentacles of an unseen monster.

Blake gulped and pressed her hand against her belly, feeling the little hole going through the fabric of her shirt, she inserted her finger inside it and felt her skin below the piece of cloth, she couldn't find anything wrong with her flesh, yet she was too afraid to look down.

She hadn't lost a minute of her memory, she knew what was there. It somehow didn't hurt anymore, and she couldn't find it with her trailing fingers, but Blake was sure the gunshot was still there.

Rather than look at it, she glanced around her. The redhaired boy wasn't here anymore, she was alone in that alleyway in the middle of the rain. Where had he gone?

Something other than the water of the rain fell down her cheeks, tears of both fear about her life and sadness over being alone squashed in her heart, and she couldn't stop a hiccup from forming in her tongue.

Blake was terrified of looking down, but even more so of dying without even knowing it. She closed her eyes, grasped the edges of her shirt, and lifted it up to reveal her stomach.

Blake took one breath.

Two.

Three.

And looked down.

And found nothing. Blake was confused and gasped when she saw the skin of her belly entirely untouched, only some dirty gunk of blood clinging to her skin, and as she scrapped it off with her finger, it was washed away by the rain leaving only unblemished flesh behind.

As if nothing had ever happened.

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**Anima – The City of Mistral – Alley Behind Bucktooth Bar**

Yuma's feet tapped so much, so hard against the cobblestones that it was starting to grind away the last bits of Trifa's patience. "Could you stop it?" she asked, but her harsh tone of voice made it sound more like an order.

The older boy was sitting on a wooden box and gave her a look of both annoyance and exasperation, "Could you stop walking in circles then?" he asked with the same harsh tone of voice that made the younger girl stop in her tracks and instead kick a random can that had the bad luck of been nearby.

"Where is he!" Trifa asked. She took one more step to be on the edge of the alley, and with one hand holding onto the side of the wall, she scanned the street ahead, she saw only a few passersby hiding from the rain with umbrellas here and there.

No red-hair on sight.

A hand grasped hers, and Trifa screamed.

"Trifa!" Yuma shouted and stood to help her, but when the figure of Adam fell like a limp corpse over his sister Yuma couldn't do more than watch with his eyes wide open and his mind paralyzed in shock.

Adam's weight carried both the red-hair and Trifa down to the floor, and she cradled the boy in her arms, panicking as he convulsed between her arms, "Adam, what's going on, Adam, Adam!"

And as the sky bled, the mistral authorities arrested innocent Faunus, turning on the anger of the people into a blaze, the chanting for justice became fiercer, and men and women began to look at the sharp knives in their kitchens and started to think of them not as tools but as weapons.

The blue symbol of the white fang began to turn red. Dyed by the life of the youngest of three siblings as he bled away on his sister's hands.

Mission complete.

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**And Blake has arrived! Adam finally gets to win a fight, and we see his new semblance at work! What do you guys think about it?**

**One thing that I want to mention now, Although this story is not cataloged as a Romance story but rather a Drama/Adventure, the romance will be quite prevalent and essential to the plot, although it won't be the central part of it. **

**Do remember to review! A few words can brighten up my day. I enjoy knowing your opinions about my work, even if you have something negative to say.**

**I can't become a better writer otherwise.**

**Now for the questions!**

**Last Chapter's Question:**** What's your favorite weapon of RWBY so far?**

**Coco's Gianduja is definitively my favorite weapon in RWBY, There is literally nothing more perfect than a beautiful handbag that can also turn on a Gatling gun at will. BEST. WEAPON. EVER. I want it so bad. *fangirling intensifies***

**Question of the Chapter:**** If you could give a hug to any character of RWBY, who would just hug? **

**Remember to answer the questions! Is fun and it makes me feel more connected to you ^.^**


	6. Log 6: The Beast

**Warning: This work is rated T for a reason; there is Violence, Blood, Angst, and the mention of serious topics like racism and mental illness that merit this rating. This work of Fanfiction will never have any material that would send it over the edge to an M rating like Lemons or highly descriptive scenes of violence.**

**Salutations everybody!**

**I have readded all prior Sub-Logs as an added bonus at the very end of their chapters, future Sub-Logs will be different as I will be trying out different things and see what sticks!**

**Nevertheless, here is the sixth chapter of REwrite: Adam. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I love writing it!**

**And as always, I do not own RWBY!**

**Enjoy!**

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**Volume 1**

**Log 6: The Beast**

**Anima – The City of Mistral – Industrial Sector**

The definition of a nervous tic is that of a sudden, repetitive movement of the body that happens without the person's notice or willingness to do said movement.

I pressed my thumb over my clothes, feeling the ridges of the gunshot scar just above my belly button. That place was starting to feel sore, and I was almost sure that I had developed a nervous tic that if I didn't try and stop it now, it would certainly haunt me for the rest of whatever this accursed second life of mine lasted.

I pressed my thumb further.

I didn't really care. No, it was more like I didn't have the luxury to care.

The roaring motor of the truck was the only sound that accompanied us as we sat in the back of the nondescript vehicle. There were five of us here without including the driver, yet no one said a word.

I sat with my back against the front of the truck, resting my head on the closed window to the driver's cab.

Yuma was on my right, his back bend forward, and his elbows meeting his knees, his browns wings flapped idly from time to time, and he wouldn't look at anything but his own shoes.

Trifa sat to my left, her back straight against the seat, her arms crossed and her eyes looking up to the ceiling, the only part of her body she couldn't control was her feet that kept tapping on the floor softly enough for their sound to be drowned by the truck's.

I didn't know the names of the other two members of our group that sat beside my siblings, one was a man with floppy dog ears while the other was a dark-skinned man with a dog tail.

I wished I had a better excuse to explain why I couldn't remember their names, but the only truth was that I had been too anxious while we were getting in the truck to catch their names.

All the members of my team wore nondescript clothes that any regular person would have worn on a beautiful night like this one, the only thing strange would be the bandanas covering their mouths.

Meanwhile, I was a different story.

I didn't know what I felt about my clothes, Yes, I had been the one to design them using as inspiration the Grimm masked woman from long ago yet… this… what else could I call it but a disguise?

No, a disguise was meant to hide someone's identity, this get-up would do anything but hide who I was, no. A disguise wasn't the correct word to describe what I wore.

I wore a heavily stylized black suit with a crimson red shirt and black dress pants. A pair of black gloves finished the get-up.

I still had my black glasses over my eyes yet the weight of the last piece of the… the disguise was still ever-present inside the pocket of my dress pants. A weight I couldn't forget.

Sienna's words from when she gave me these clothes earlier tonight ringed on the back of my head like the start of a new headache, "A true leader is easy to remember. When he appears, he must leave an everlasting impression upon his allies and enemies alike…"

The driver knocked on the small window between the front and us. "We are almost there," she said, and everyone's eyes came to rest on me.

I nodded, a silent order that was understood as they pulled out their assorted handguns and pistols, and began to prepare them, I took my own stolen Schnee issued revolver out with one hand and then got the other inside the pocket to check I had enough bullets.

The truck gave a turn and began to stop, and the dog-tailed man stood up and went to the door. Just as the vehicle stopped, he pushed the doors open and jumped off the truck, and the rest of us quickly followed behind.

As I got off the truck, I couldn't stop my eyes from running up to the quiet sky, and then to my surroundings. We were in the parking lot behind a building complex shaped like a 'U.'

The driver, a girl that was probably younger than the fourteen-year-old me judging by her size, with a long brown ponytail that curled at the end like the tail of a chameleon, got out of the truck and joined the group.

"This way." The man with floppy ears waved and guided us around the building and into an alleyway that led to the back of another one. We kept on moving alongside the wall until we got to the locked door that had the words 'Dust Processing' stamped above it, but even more importantly.

The energy panel boxes were next to it.

The man with the dog tail went to work on them, breaking the first one open and shutting down the outdoor lights.

"Cameras?" Yuma asked as he went to the door.

The man with floppy ears nodded, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure there aren't-"

"Pretty sure?" interrupted the driver with an angry tone. "You work here!"

"I work in labor, I'm not even allowed anywhere near processing!" said floppy ears with his voice rising with each word.

"Quiet!" Trifa said in a loud whisper that startled them both.

A heavy silence took over everyone, and I saw how the morale of the newer members of our team was already bleeding out from their down casted eyes, their sagged shoulders, and shaking knees.

Yuma gritted his teeth, and Trifa glanced at me anxiously.

The dog-tailed man whimpered like a child and rubbed his shoulder as he closed back the power box. "Maybe we should just leave-"

"No," the word coming out of my mouth with enough gravity to shake everyone out of their stupor.

I was reluctant to believe I was worthy of being called a leader like Sienna seemed to think, but even if I wasn't a true leader, I could very well fake it if that was what everyone else needed of me.

I walked through them as I came towards the locked door. "Our kind has been beaten. Murdered. Treated as slaves, forced to mine this dust for the humans who think they can make up the rules we should then follow."

With my back against my band of misfit Faunus, I took off my glasses, closed them and slowly put them inside my pocket, I felt through the fabric of my gloves the other thing inside that pocket, and I took a deep breath before I took it out.

I gazed at it.

And the four slatted eyes of the Grimm half-mask stared back at me.

"Taking this dust is only illegal in the eyes of the same people that call us animals," I said before I put on the mask and turned around for everyone to see.

"That mask…" the driver took a step away from me, and I tried to smile reassuringly at her.

"We may not want them to know who we are," I began as I took a step closer to the door and glanced at the lock keeping us out, I aimed my gun at it, feeling the rims of the trigger caress my finger through the glove. "But we should make sure they never forget what we are."

I pulled the trigger.

The lock exploded, and the door was blasted open by the impact.

I turned to look at the others and rose my hand toward the dark void inside the open door. "Now, it is time we take what we deserve."

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**Anima – The City of Mistral – Schnee Dust Processing Facility**

The blaring of the alarm and the red lights tinted the world as if it was dyed in blood.

A bullet struck the wall just above my head, I crouched and aimed at the last droid standing and pulled the trigger, blasting the thing's head off. "Get it all out now!"

Yuma ran out of cover and charged the door we had come in from, smashing his way out into the alleyway as the driver and Trifa followed close behind him with their hands filled with boxes of dust.

The dog tailed man and floppy ears got out of their hiding spots and ran for more boxes, while I stood near the door with my gun at the ready in case there was some droid still hiding anywhere.

I went right behind them as they got out. "To the truck!" Yuma shouted, and we all followed him, going around the corner and into the parking lot. I felt relief because our truck was the only vehicle in the lot, meaning the police were probably still scrambling trying to find people to man all the robberies that were going on simultaneously.

Yuma and the driver were running up ahead, almost reaching the truck when suddenly a dark figure fell right on their way, creating a wave of dust and air that made everyone stop and cover their eyes.

"Going somewhere, kids?"

"Get out of the way!" Yuma shouted and rose his fist while the driver dropped her boxes and pulled out her pistol.

Before either of them could move more, the dark figure disappeared like a ghost, and only a flash of his image was left as he dashed around them, first hitting Yuma on the chin and blowing him up into the air before kicking the driver's arm out of aim.

The driver pulled the trigger, shooting to the sky just as the dark figure's hand went behind his back, and the sound of gears came, and a sword appeared on his side.

The man was faster than the eye, armed with a great sword that seemed to have shotgun barrels attached to its sides. And just as Trifa pulled her gun and shot at him, a dark red aura appeared to take the blow for the man.

I felt bile rise my stomach as I realized what the haggard-looking man with graying spiky black hair was…

"Huntsman!" I shouted and heard the floppy-eared man curse beside me as he dropped his boxes too to grab for his gun. I aimed at the huntsman and pulled the trigger, but the man rose his sword and parried the bullet with ease.

I grasped the shoulder of the floppy-eared man. "Get the cargo in, I will hold him!"

The man looked at me like he didn't believe me, and hell, I didn't believe myself either, but I was sure even all of us together wouldn't be able to do more than waste the time of the professional fighter that was the greatsword-wielding man.

I had never encountered a huntsman before, but I had heard enough tales of the crazy maniacs that spend their life willingly going against the Grimm. I had hoped I would never encounter either of those things in my life, yet here stood one of my nightmares incarnate.

"You got guts, kid." The huntsman said as he pulled his great sword lazily over his shoulder and walked toward me, he ignored my comrades as they worked, and I counted that as a small miracle.

"I can't have you mess with my things, human." I aimed the gun at him again, but he didn't seem bothered by it. He scoffed at my words, and his lips thinned out as if I had insulted him.

"Hey, don't gotta bring race and all into this."

His response made a vein pop in my forehead, and I didn't bother to answer that with words. I pulled the trigger.

He bent his head to the side and dodged the bullet effortlessly. "I guess we aren't solving this the easy way."

"We are," I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt as I fired again, forcing him this time to parry the bullet. "Just not easy for you."

I pulled the trigger twice more before the third press of it only gave me a hopeless click to remind me that I was out of bullets, the huntsman parried one and dodged the other before he chuckled with a smug face and dashed toward me.

I saw the edge of his sword glint with the moonlight come at me, and I was sure he would cut me down, but a second later, what happened was his foot.

I tried to walk back, but he still caught me with a kick straight to my stomach that forced a gasp out of me as I saw it break apart my aura like it was made of nothing but red glass with just one hit that sent me flying to the ground.

"Adam!" Yuma shouted, and he and floppy ears charged the huntsman, but the man swiped them away with the blunt side of his greatsword.

Trifa aimed again, but the man dodged through the shots and smashed the hilt of his sword on her chest and dropped her to the floor like a sack of rice. The driver tried as well firing twice at him, but the huntsman parried the bullets and ricocheted them back to her, one blasting the gun out of her hand.

Only the dog-tailed man remained standing, and he backed away with his knees trembling, coming closer to me as I got to my knees.

"Kids should be sleeping at this hour." The huntsman sighed and took out a metal canteen from under his poorly buttoned shirt and took a long gulp of whatever was inside it. He then went toward our truck and bashed its side with his greatsword, spilling countless dust boxes to the ground of the parking lot.

The dog-tailed man screamed in a fit of both panic and rage and came at him with a fist at the ready, but the huntsman sidestepped him, making the dog-tailed man lose his balance as the huntsman bashed him in the head with the hilt of the sword and knocked him to the floor.

The huntsman's eyes had never left me as he decimated my friends, just like those of a cruel crow watching the misfortune of those in the mud below.

I was on my hands and knees. Trembling. Terrified.

The man took a step towards me, and I jumped away like a scared child, falling on my ass and crawling away. My last bullet fell out of my pocket and rolled on the floor, sounding like the pin on an empty room, resonated throughout the parking lot.

He wasn't a man, a human, no, he was a demon. There surrounded by dust boxes and barring our way to the truck. With all my comrades on the floor like corpses and with the moonlight against his back.

Trying to fight him felt like trying to stop the ocean waves, a prime example in the futility of defying destiny, and only thinking about that made my hand stop shaking with fear and become steady with anger.

I had to means to fight him, no ways to defeat him by myself.

But I didn't need to.

I went desperately to grasp for the bullet rolling in the pavement. The man chuckled as if he already guessed I had nothing left to use.

He didn't move. He waited. I loaded my last round on the revolver and aimed. Lighting struck, flashing our silhouettes in the darkness.

The huntsman stood tall and proud around the dust boxes.

The defeated me laid in the ground, pointing my gun at the man.

I pulled the trigger.

I saw in the huntsman's eyes the exact moment he figured out I wasn't aiming at him.

The bullet struck a box near his shoe. "Shit!" he exclaimed before the dust ignited and an explosion of fire and thunder engulfed him entirely and blew the truck and everyone else away from the hellfire.

The rest of us flew on the air and fell ungracefully to the ground, I came shoulder first and looking away from the explosion, but I stood on my knees just to look at what had happened.

Most of our loot had disappeared. The truck had been flown and fallen to its side with the rest of the boxes lying still inside its cargo hold cracked, and the crystals inside peeked out and shined with the moonlight.

A crow mockingly stood perched above the truck. It cawed at us once and fell silent.

Yuma and Trifa, as well as the others, were all on the floor on different states of consciousness. With floppy ears appearing to be the only one entirely out of the fight.

The huntsman was gone.

Only a smoking, blackened crater remained where the man had once stood.

"Is he…" began saying the driver with a trembling voice. "Is he dead?"

I got up from the ground with my shaky legs, holding onto my aching stomach and took a step forward. There was no man left, nor his greatsword, not even a piece of his clothing, but I still didn't feel it right to say it.

But I didn't need to.

"He is dead," Yuma said with a mixture of wonder and surprise that then led to laughter. "Adam… You killed him."

I smiled.

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**Anima – The City of Mistral – Outskirts of the City**

The sound of sirens had become an echo that danced from every street of Mistral and could be heard even this far away from the main sectors of the city. The paved roads had already given way to those made of dirt, and the truck was leaving a trail of dust behind it that made it impossible for me to see if we were being followed.

The glass window from the co-pilot side had shattered from before, and I took advantage of that to tug my arm out and grab the rearview mirror to move it around and try and spot anything. I was quite sure just by the sound alone that there was nobody behind us but...

I needed to do something, so I could stop thinking.

The truck curled on itself as we took another turn way to fast, and my side smashed against the door. Had I not been holding onto the seat with my other hand, I would have gone out of the window.

I turned toward the driver. "Watch it!" I growled the words more than shouted, and she flinched.

"S- sorry, sir!" she said, and I sighed. I didn't like the new submissive and polite way she had begun to use to address me, but before I could say anything about it, I noticed something that I found more worrying.

She was driving only with her left hand while her right arm just hanged of her shoulder uselessly. Her sleeve had a dark wet spot surrounding a hole near her shoulder.

"You are injured," I said, and saw her gulp, but she didn't respond to me. Doing little to contain my annoyance on her, I asked her, "What's your name?"

She glanced at me with her eyes alone for a moment without taking her face from the road. "Illia, sir. Illia Amitola."

"Illia." I tried to make my tone sound less harsh, but she still flinched as I said her name. "As our getaway driver, not only your life, but all of ours are in your hands, that you can only use one of those is something you should have told your leading officer immediately, which is me."

"I'm sorry, sir! But I'm fine is just a-"

I interrupted her by grabbing her wrist. I regretted doing it immediately as she gasped and closed her eyes in pain, her entire skin also turned a bright yellow like mustard that startled me, but it was seeing her almost lost control of the truck as she swerved to the side that made me shout her name. "Illia!"

She opened her eyes and held onto the steering wheel and regained control of the truck seconds before we would crash against a closed stall at the side of the road.

"Sorry, sir!" Tears glistened in her eyes, and her skin turned a bright green instead while her hair went and changed to a blue, and although I felt the need to say sorry or perhaps question her about the color changing. I didn't.

I had to be a leader right now.

"Just make sure we don't crash while I deal with your arm."

She glanced at me, "You don't need to worry, sir. I can drive like this."

I groaned and clenched my hand over her wrist before I slowly pulled her arm toward me, "No, you can't. I will heal you now."

I tried to pull her arm slowly to avoid hurting her, but seeing as she whimpered, I decided instead to pull myself closer to her before I activated my semblance. Black and red fire appeared in her injury, and Illia seemed to fight between concentrating on the road and watching her arm in wonder.

The fire burned away the hole in her arm. Her flesh and skin returning to their natural form at the same time that I felt the fire burning the wound into my arm. I made sure to cover it with my body so Illia wouldn't notice that.

After the process finished, I let go of her arm, and she rose it in front of herself in wonder, "Sir… what did you…"

"I have a healing semblance," I left it at that for an explanation before I went back to sitting near the door, though now minding not to let my injured arm press against it. "I want a soft ride now."

I had not told anyone about the disadvantages of my semblance, nor did I plan to. It would only lead to unnecessary worry since auras could not only protect people from harm but could also slowly heal most kinds of injuries. I would only need to stop the bleeding, which I would do after I found a moment alone and wait for my aura to regenerate so it could patch me up.

"Y-yes, sir!"

Ilia didn't bother me the rest of the way to the meeting place, only giving me glances here and there but doing nothing to stop my mind from going to the places I didn't want it to go.

Back to that parking lot.

I killed a man.

Acknowledging it made my stomach churn.

I had known that the path I had taken with my life wasn't a pretty one, I knew what I fought for, and I was sure that I would have to one day make hard choices, and I had thought myself prepared for them.

I did it, I pulled the trigger, I didn't hesitate but…

I wasn't prepared for the feelings that it would bring.

I killed a man, and I enjoyed every bit of it, a sense of euphoria spread through my chest just thinking about having done it even if I had never planned to kill the huntsman at all.

Fear had made me pull the trigger, and that's an emotion I could maybe excuse on myself, facing a huntsman was one of the scariest things anyone could come up against. If it had only been fear clogging my arteries, I would have been ashamed of myself, but I would be okay.

But this joy… it terrified me.

The truck decelerated bringing me back to the moment as we took a turn that got us out of the dirt road and deep into the forests surrounding Mistral, it wasn't long before we reached a clear were already three other trucks were parked in a semicircle that left an open space for ours to fit in.

To the side were two bullheads and a more massive mistral airship with the logo of the White Fang spray-painted on its side. The ship seemed to be made mostly of wood with just enough metal to make it look modern and even had wings that looked more like the masts with sails of a pirate ship than something that could fly, I was thankful to be a soldier and not an engineer since I barely could understand how most of the technology of Remnant seemed to work when it didn't look like it should.

Faunus were unloading boxes from the trucks and carrying them into the ship with a calm hurry. One that spoke of a sense of urgency but also a feeling of safety mixing together in a strange cocktail that kept everyone in an alert state where they worked suitably yet nervous enough to stop what they were doing to look at our truck as we parked.

I was the first to step out of the vehicle, not caring about closing the door as I jumped off it and walked into the makeshift camp looking for Sienna to give her my report quietly before I could go somewhere with a modicum of privacy to deal with my arm.

I had already told everyone in my group to avoid talking about what happened in our mission… especially of the huntsman as I didn't want that information to spread. The only one I didn't tell was the man with floppy dog ears because he had been unconscious, but I was sure the others would fill him in.

I caught sight of Sienna near one of the bullheads, looking like she was talking with someone inside it that I couldn't see from my current spot, I began to walk toward her when then the man she had been talking to get off the bullhead.

The man was tall and built like a tank. He was muscular and slightly tanned from working under the sun and had a short black mane of hair connected to a thick beard with way too familiar golden yellow eyes that gave me a slight sense of Deja bu and made me wonder slightly if golden eyes were a trait shared by all feline Faunus.

But it was the bright open-chest purple vest with white fur trim that made me recognize the man, I had never seen him before, but everyone that grew up in the White Fang ended up knowing about him one way or another that had me slightly gulping and reconsidering if I should get nearer or just walk away.

Sienna was talking with Ghira Belladonna.

The Ghira Belladonna.

High leader of the White Fang, ruler of the whole organization, and unofficial de facto leader of our entire race.

The man glanced at my direction, and our eyes met, his gaze alone had me swallowing, but I didn't show any other signs of discomfort as I kept on walking toward them since I had already been spotted, it would be a waste to try and delay the inevitable.

"And you are?" Ghira asked me loudly over Sienna's head, but without shouting, even though his words cut to the chase with no flourish, the tone of his voice made them appear gentler.

Like I imagined a worried father would sound like.

Sienna turned to see who Ghira was talking to, and I got a glimpse of her worried expression before she saw me, and a cocky smile together with a chuckle replaced it in her face. "You finally arrived."

"High Leader," I saluted Ghira with a formal salute before I nodded at her. "Sienna."

"You took longer than expected to arrive here, were there any complications?" She asked me as she crossed her arms, and the smirk disappeared from her features. Ghira moved to stand beside her, and his eyes bore into my mask in a way that I wasn't sure if he was disapproving of it or just curious.

I didn't feel entirely comfortable with his eyes, nor with him being here at all and it made me hesitate even though I knew I could not ask the High Leader himself to step away, I hoped I could get us all three somewhere quieter. "There was… a complication, I would prefer to give my report privately, I already spoke with my men to not speak of it but-"

"Adam killed the huntsman!" a shout startled me from behind, floppy ears was pointing at me from inside a gathering group of Faunus that were looking at us with both awe and fear.

"I'm telling the truth," he kept on going while he gestured to someone else in the crowd like he was trying to convince them. "I saw it with my own eyes. He defeated the huntsman and blew him up to smithereens!"

"What is this about?" Ghira demanded, anger now evident in his tone of voice as something like the growling of a puma mixed in with it.

"That… would be the complication," I said while I did my best to keep my voice firm, I didn't want to give away how much it still affected me, so I kept talking to try and get it all out at once like if it were a band-aid. "A huntsman interfered as we were loading the truck, but we managed to dispose of him. Sadly, I had to sacrifice some of the cargo, but we still brought most of it intact… can't say the same about the truck itself." I shrugged at the last bit as I tried to make it seem like the truck was more important to me than the dead corpse I felt hanging on my shoulders.

Both Ghira and Sienna looked at each other, their faces revealed nothing to me as they both frowned to one another as if they were having a silent conversation between them that I wasn't invited to.

Around us, the crowd grew in number, and I heard whispers and murmurs that I couldn't catch onto. I couldn't stop myself from taking a glance around, feeling somewhat surprised as I found most people had stopped working to come.

"That wasn't necessary." Ghira's exasperated voice forced my eyes back to him. An evident scowl crowned his golden ones, and his tone of voice that sounded like a mixture between disappointed and angry made me flinch and look downwards as I couldn't hold his gaze.

He took a step forward, and one hand gestured toward the crowd around us.

I didn't know why he was angry, but he didn't give me time to ponder over it either as the high leader explained, "killing a huntsman? Killing a protector that guards the world against the creatures of Grimm is just one of the many reasons for why they think they can treat us like-"

"Ghira!" Sienna pleaded as she took a step forward, almost standing between the high leader and me. "Huntsmen not only kill Grimm… they also hunt us too!"

"That's true!" shouted a woman from the crowd.

"The huntsmen are evil!" another man screamed.

And as more voices joined the chorus, mixing with one another into a wave of rage and the hatred of the oppressed. Sienna's voice didn't join them, didn't drown in the ocean.

Her words came like the thunder above the waves. "He is a hero!"

And the clapping began, hatred turned into hope, men and women began to repeat the word.

Hero.

Hero.

Hero.

I was left confused, watching as the crowd applauded me and Sienna came to stand beside me. Her hand landed on my shoulder, and pride caressed her voice. "Today, you proved the old ways are wrong. You will accompany me to Menagerie, our people must learn… and you, Adam. You need to be rewarded."

Hero.

The word became a war cry, the crowd's fists shaking at the sky, glory for the Faunus, glory for the White Fang, death to the humans, and more words came filled with so much pent up emotion from the people around us.

Hero.

But I wasn't looking at them.

Hero.

I wasn't looking at Sienna.

Hero.

I was looking at Ghira, our high leader.

Hero.

He was horrified, his emotions transparent like glass on his eyes. I didn't know why he felt that way, I wasn't sure I wanted to know either.

Hero.

But I knew that the horror that I felt on the back of my mind was quite similar to his.

I was horrified too.

Hero.

Because as the word was chanted, as I was being lionized.

Hero.

The only thing that I could think of is that I had killed a man, and that it…

Hero.

It had…

Hero.

It had felt…

Hero!

Good…

Murderer.

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**And he shall be Lionize.**

**This chapter marks a crucial turning point for Adam, this is the start of where that question about if Adam was evil by nature or was he nurtured to be is answered. Also, two canon characters make an appearance, Qrow, and Illia! I have a hell of a crush on Qrow and I am quite surprised actually that I lasted this long before I got him in the story haha. **

**Now for Illia, I must admit that I am having some issues with her. Although I quite like her design, I have never been fond of her since she was created as nothing but a replacement for Adam so that he could then be shoved into the full-blown villain persona. Illia is basically the original Adam but gender-swapped. **

**Because of this, I'm not sure how important I want her to be in my story. Without spoilers, I currently have two options for her, one that would keep her status as an essential secondary character mostly intact, or I could shove her into the background entirely. **

**I would like to know everyone's opinion on her. Do you like her enough that you want to see her in the story or would you prefer if I just ship her to Vacuo permanently and call it a day? Her destiny rest in your review's hands. **

**Now Modelo…I mean Question Time!**

**Last Chapter's Question: ****If you could give a hug to any character of RWBY, who would just hug?**

**I want to give a big hug to Qrow, not only cuz I have a massive crush on him but also because he deserves one, the world seems to hate him so much with how many bad things it keeps throwing at him… Leave Qrow alone!**

**Question of the Chapter:**** If you could throw a tomato without retaliation to any character's face in RWBY, who would you pick and why? **


	7. Log 7: The Beauty

**Warning: This work is rated T for a reason; there is Violence, Blood, Angst, and the mention of serious topics like racism and mental illness that merit this rating. This work of Fanfiction will never have any material that would send it over the edge to an M rating like Lemons or highly descriptive scenes of violence.**

**Salutations everybody!**

**Here comes the next log! A bit later than usual but still here, I'm honestly quite nervous at the reception of this chapter and I hope you guys especially enjoy it. **

**Nevertheless, here is the seventh chapter of REwrite: Adam. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I love writing it!**

**And as always, I do not own RWBY!**

**Enjoy!**

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**Volume 1**

**Log 7: The Beauty**

**Menagerie – The Coast – Sky Above It**

The sight below incurred a memory from long ago, one I couldn't recall ever hearing with the ears now I own. Was it a song? Yes. Yes, it was a song, how silly it was that the first memory from my previous life came to be the lyrics of a song that sounded more like a lullaby for children.

But I couldn't find more fitting words to describe the view.

The lights from the city below danced with a beauty for which other words were not enough to describe it.

"If ten million fireflies, lit up the world as I fell asleep…" I whispered the lyrics for myself, I leaned my head against the airship's window, and I felt the glass vibrate under my ear as I closed my eyes.

Kuo Kuana.

That was the name of the city. It was the largest settlement and capital of the southernmost island of Remnant, called Menagerie. The isle had only a few towns, and most of them resided in the western coasts since most of the east of the island was only deserts filled with wildlife that I had heard was even more dangerous than the Grimm.

Menagerie.

I had never been here before, but I have spent my life hearing about it. Many called it a refuge, others a prison. Many called it a paradise, others a death sentence. Many called it just an island but others…

Called it the kingdom of the Faunus.

"Enjoying the view?" I heard Trifa's voice ask from behind me, but I didn't move from my position, nor did I open my eyes. For as much as the sight of the city may have been beautiful, I still hated being trapped in this… flying can.

"I will vomit on you," I warned her, but Trifa only responded by giggling as I heard her sit beside me on my left.

"I still don't understand your problem with heights," Yuma said as I felt him land his elbows against the back of the seat and push it slightly down with his weight. I groaned, which only made Trifa giggle a little more.

"The great masked hero, afraid of heights." She teased me as she poked me with a finger on the arm. I was thankful that the bleeding injury I had still not had time to take care of was on my other shoulder and currently hidden from my siblings' view.

I had come to this secluded section of the ship to deal with it, but they had arrived to aggravate me before I could do so.

"I don't care about heights," I said a little bit irritated. "Is having to bet my life on a flying deathtrap that bothers me. This thing is going to crash any minute."

"This is the finest airship there is!" Yuma said like if he was offended before he chuckled, and his hand landed over my head. "We are about to land, Sienna told us she wanted you with her."

I went to stand up just to feel a spike of pain stab me deep in my arm that forced the air out of my mouth as I bend down.

"Adam?!" Trifa came to me, but I forced a smile on my face and took a step away, thankful that I still had my mask on to hide the suffering in my eyes.

"Is nothing," I did a show of holding my injured arm, but I didn't touch it, just hovering my hand over it while making sure to keep it away from their view. "My arm fell asleep, it caught me by surprise."

Trifa didn't seem to buy it, but Yuma, my dear idiot brother, smirked and crossed his arms. "You idiot," he said.

I waved him off and went out of the cabin as fast as I could. I would deal with the wound after we disembarked, and I got away from Sienna, she would probably be occupied with the high leader after we arrived and would have no time to spend with a simple soldier like me.

I was so bloody wrong… to the point that it was almost funny.

I trailed behind Sienna as we got out of the ship, as we were escorted from the docks into the city proper, as she spoke with this man and the other. Faces became blurs, and I was only thankful that nobody seemed to need me to say a word as I focused on maintaining myself still standing and hiding how much the world seemed to be wobbling around me.

It could have been half an hour or two whole hours, and I wouldn't have known. I was like a moving statue walking beside Sienna, quietly a step behind her while the rest of the universe minded its own business.

Before I knew it, we reached a plaza where a tall podium had been installed on its center, the lights of the fires inside the wooden houses around us danced in my eyes and made me feel dizzy, and I almost missed when Sienna said, "Go wait in the crowd, Adam. It is time for me to get what I deserve."

Her words sounded slurred on my ears, but I didn't care as she kept on going away. I stumbled between the faceless shadows. I didn't have a direction, and the little clarity I still had in my head was put entirely on making sure I didn't showcase any weakness to the world.

I just had to last a little longer.

Just a little longer.

"I am Sienna Khan…" Sienna's voice was carried by the wind even through the murmurs of the faceless crowd.

I ignored her words and kept walking, I felt surrounded. Clogged. Breathless. I needed to get away from the crowd, and I pushed my way in what I hoped was the direction out of it as I moved farther from Sienna's voice.

A golden sparkle shined between the mass of bodies, and I couldn't stop myself from quickly gazing at it even though the movement made me feel woozier than I already was.

I saw a girl with cat ears twitching above a long and luscious black hair, her golden eyes stare back at me, she flinched in either fear or surprise, I couldn't tell which, when our eyes met before a faceless body hid her from my view.

I arched an eyebrow at that. The girl reminded me of the High Leader, and I had the passing thought that maybe my theory that all feline Faunus had golden eyes, was correct. I would need to ask Sienna at another time.

But in my distraction, I didn't notice when had I left the crowd.

Nor had I noticed the wall.

I smashed forehead first against the bricks that forced the mask back as it bit into my skin, my legs shook, and I rebounded from the wall almost losing my balance before I pressed one hand against the stupid thing to keep from falling.

My other hand quickly move to remove the mask from my face, I took it off, but my unsteady fingers couldn't get a hold of it, and it fell to the ground between my feet. "Damn it."

I couldn't move, I knew if I did, I would follow the mask right to the dirt. Instead, I kept breathing, letting my body rest as I held onto the wall for a few more seconds. I would get my mask back in a moment and then get the hell out of here to deal with the wound.

I just needed a second to rest.

That pissed me off.

I couldn't look weak, I couldn't allow it. Yet right now, if anyone glanced in my direction, all they would see me look like was downright pathetic. And I couldn't do anything about it other than keep breathing.

Anger, red hot fire in my veins. My uninjured hand rose with pure frustration, and I threw a punch toward the wall in defiance and with a pure immature tantrum against the world and how it wouldn't just leave me the hell alone.

"H- Hello?" A girl's face appeared beside me before my fist reached the bricks. I was already taken by the momentum and my poor balance and couldn't do more than continue moving forward as my hand crashed against the wall just a breath away from her face, and my weakened body bend closer.

Her golden eyes widened as they met with my blue one and then traveled toward my branded left eye, her unblinking gaze captured me, and I couldn't do more than stare back at her for what felt like an eternity that was nothing but a breath that the universe didn't notice going away before I regained my mental capacity and brusquely pushed myself from the wall.

Away from her.

I knew it was stupidly risky to try and retrieve my mask, but I leaned down enough to fish it out off the ground, even though the maneuver had a high chance of making me fall. I didn't fall, and instead, I got up with the mask in hand and put it back on.

But rather than get more scared because of my lack of manners, it instead seemed to calm the girl as she rubbed her hands, and I was caught again by those golden eyes. They followed my every movement and in the darkness of the night, with only the candles and the fires to light up the world around us. Those golden eyes shined like coins.

Mesmerizing.

Enthralling.

Her eyes danced with the fires, and I found myself just trying to spot the reflection of every candle that shined inside the melted gold of them until she blinked, and I broke away from the spell.

She had seen my brandmark. Very few, and I was quite proud of how good I had become at hiding it from the world.

"Don't you dare tell anyone of what you saw," I said with the anger I still felt in my blood, masking the panic hiding beneath my skin. Both emotions mixing in my words and raising my tone of voice.

The girl's ears twitched, but her expression remained calm and controlled, and I didn't know why that infuriated me somehow. "I won't… Are you okay?" she said.

She didn't look away from my mask, and I found that enough proof in her honesty for my beating heart to calm a little. I nodded and decided that our conversation was over, and I went to leave. Had I not been so tired, I would have perhaps thanked her.

But then she said, "Excuse me…" and before I could do anything, I felt her slender fingers grasp my shoulder exactly where the bullet hole still bled.

Cold fire exploded from the hole and ran through my muscles, I gasped and felt my knees give away below me before they crashed on the ground.

"Are you okay?!" She kneeled next to me. My hand hovered over my shoulder to protect it from her prodding, but then the light caressed her hand, and I saw in her eyes the moment she registered that her fingers were covered in blood. "You are bleeding!"

"I'm fine!" I said in a rude whisper and tried to stand on my wobbly legs. I didn't want this girl to bring more attention to me, I just needed to get away so I could deal with the wound myself, but why was the floor shaking?

The girl caught me by my healthy shoulder before I fell, and I couldn't do more than mumble a complaint, "I'm fine…" While she pulled my arm around her head and walked me away from the crowd.

But she shook her head, her cat ears plastered against her skull and her long black hair brushing against my clothes. "My house is close, and you need help."

She guided my steps, my head lolled to the side and came closer to her, and the scent of orange fluttered in my nose from her perfume. That the girl's smell seemed so distracting was an excellent indicator to me that I was starting to become delirious, and I decided to stop fighting her and just let her walk me.

I kept my head down, focusing more on taking the next step that followed. We reached a set of stairs and then a massive wooden door which seemed a little bit too large for any regular house here to have, yet I didn't care enough about it to raise my eyes up.

She pulled it open and not long after she helped me down into a comfortable wooden chair.

"Wait here," She said, and I finally got my face up to watch her walk away into a long corridor, seeing her turquoise dress dance with her steps. Her hair swayed side to side, and her little cat ears twirled a little as if they were catching sounds I couldn't.

I blinked once.

I blinked twice…

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**Menagerie – Kuo Kuana – Cat Girl's House?**

"I'd like to make myself believe…"

A tune carried by the breeze.

"Hum uhm hum uhm… Turns slowly…"

A warm comfort tugged me, the soft sheets of a bed, the coziness of a pillow below my head.

I opened my eyes to a shy light that came inside the room from an open window with white curtains that danced with the wind. A clear sky and a palm tree waved at me from the outside.

"That song…" I slurred the words out of my mouth, too low for whoever was singing to understand them.

"It's hard to say- Oh, you woke up." The singer stopped, and I glanced to the other side of the bed to find my mask thrust right at my face. I was too groggy to flinch away even if I still gasped as I thought the mask would collide right with my nose, but it didn't.

The cat girl's hand hovered close to me with the mask still in her fingers, although it covered most of my view from her, I saw her awkward smile as she said, "I thought maybe you would like it back? I… I took it while you slept so you wouldn't hurt yourself…"

I wasn't sure how to respond, I took it from her gently, brushing her fingers accidentally as I pulled the mask away before putting it back on.

I went to stand up, and I moved my arms behind me and pushed my chest up to get up, but she suddenly jumped from the chair she had been sitting. "You shouldn't stand!"

I stopped with only my torso upright, seeing her panicked expression as her hands hovered over me as if she was too scared to touch me. I gave up on standing and sat more comfortably in the bed. She sighed in relief and sat back on the chair when she saw I wouldn't keep trying to stand up.

"That song you were singing, what was it?" I asked her, the lyrics sounded so familiar.

The girl's cheeks turned bright red, and her eyes escaped mines. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"You didn't. What song was that?" I continued asking. The girl's voice wasn't that one of an angel, the song was not one that would bring tears to my eyes either, but it had been… nice.

"Is just a silly lullaby." She shrugged, and I expected her to stay quiet and keep avoiding looking at me, but after she blinked, her expression changed from embarrassed to thoughtful, and she glanced at me. "Are you… are you Adam Taurus?"

I nodded for an answer, and she seemingly seemed to lose some of her bravery as her eyes went to her hands. I followed her gaze and couldn't but arch an eyebrow behind my mask when I saw she was holding my black blazer, which seemed to be much cleaner than it had been before.

"They call you the hero of Mistral." She said, and I couldn't stop a sarcastic chuckle from escaping my lips that made her look at my face. She seemed worried, her ear flattened against her hair, and that confused me enough that it had my tongue running.

"Kind of hard to be the hero of a city I helped raid," I said with a smirk to try and ease the tension, but it didn't seem to help at all.

"They call you that way because you defeated a huntsman," She said, and in that instant, her golden eyes felt like they were prodding me. The smile she showed me looked a little forced and made her look much younger. But I didn't care for any of that, her words had dug into that tender ache inside my guts that came in full force again, and my grin died on my lips. I couldn't look at her anymore and instead began to inspect my fingers.

Without my gloves on, it was easy to see all the imperfections in them, the little edges and canals in my skin, there was one ridge in my left hand, right there in my index finger that parted my skin right in my middle phalanx.

That one, I got it from learning how to press the trigger of a gun.

That one I got it pressing that trigger.

"I didn't… 'defeat' him… I… I…"

I didn't finish the thought.

A heavy silence followed as neither of us could glance at the other for more than a breath before we had to look away. I felt an itch in my left shoulder, and I moved my right arm to scratch it only to remember too late that the movement would have hurt.

But it didn't hurt.

I pressed my left hand on my right shoulder, and I felt the bandages covering it from underneath my red shirt, the wound seemed to have already been healed by my aura thanks to the medical aid I received.

"Thank you. For treating me." I bowed my head once at her, but the girl turned a bright shade of pink, and her eyes escaped mines.

"Ah! I, well, I didn't do anything, really. After you weren't responding when I came back yesterday, I even thought you were dead for a second!" she giggled, and her fingers dug into my blazer as she held it closer to her chest, "I was panicking, really, the one that healed you was my-"

"Good morning, you two!" shouted the voice of a woman that I could have recognized anywhere loudly enough to have us both jump out of our skins, the shout had come from the door just behind the black-haired girl. Not a second later, the way too familiar head of a cat-eared woman with short black hair, pale skin, golden eyes, and a smile that could have swallowed the sun poked her way inside the room from the side of the door.

"Kali?" I asked, even though she was right there in front of me, I still felt like I needed to confirm the woman wasn't just a fidget of my imagination.

She came into the room with a proud grin in her face. "Adam, you don't know how happy I am to see you finally in Menagerie!"

Before I knew it, she had me between her arms and was squishing the life out of me, forcing a gasp out of my mouth and an irritated "Mom!" out of the girl.

"Mom?" I repeated like an idiot.

The woman squished me harder, making a couple of my bones pop and getting me to squeal like a pig before she unhanded me, and I fell back into the bed, trying to breathe again. "I'm so happy to see you! But I would have preferred if you had come to visit my home faster if you needed any help."

Right after she said those words, her smile turned sour, and her hands landed on her waist, making her look exactly like the angry mother that she was. My brain was still trying to process all the new information and rather than say a word I instead just looked from Kali to the girl, I mean her daughter, back and forth.

I didn't know how I had not noticed the similarities before, the girl looked like a younger, long-haired Kali.

Things just became more ridiculous as a third voice joined the chorus of insanity.

"Kali?" came the calm voice of no other than the high leader as he went into the room and frowned as his eyes caught me.

"High Leader!" I squeaked and did my best to get up from the bed as the two women took a step back from the trashing, I was doing trying to disentangle myself from the sheets. I got up and did a graceless salute that only made the man arch an eyebrow.

"You don't have to call me that anymore," he said. I dropped the salute in confusion, but rather than go into more details, he asked, "You are Sienna's little prodigy, aren't you?"

"Yes." I nodded, I wanted to ask what he had meant, but he was faster.

"My daughter said she found you wounded last night while the announcement was going through, were you attacked here?" he asked me with a serious and tense tone on his voice that had the women also looking at me with worry.

I needed a second to understand what he was implying, but I shook my head when I did. "No, sir, the injury I had was from the mistral raid, I had been too busy to deal with it and underestimated it. I'm fine now, thanks to Kali and…" only now I noticed I didn't know the girl's name and I looked at her, and she flinched.

"Is Blake!" she cried loudly, making Kali giggle beside her, which only made Blake, turn pink. "My name is Blake." She repeated and tugged one of her arms with the other.

"And Blake," I finished, I felt the edges of my lips tug upwards into a smile that I strangely didn't mind even though it wasn't professional at all to do so in front of my commanding officer.

But that seemed to work in defusing the tense air in the room. The high leader grinned proudly, and a bellowing laugh exploded out of his mouth, "Of course! My wife and daughter are the best on the whole island!"

I was sure I felt the exact moment my brain overheated.

"W- wife?" I asked in a strangled whisper while the man kept laughing. Kali only smiled while Blake appeared to be completely and utterly embarrassed on behalf of her parents.

"Now that you are awake, why don't you and Blake join us for breakfast?" Kali asked, and I shared a look with Blake that meant to ask why she wasn't already eating, but then I remembered I was wearing my mask.

"I wouldn't want to intrude." I was still quite shocked at the discovery of who Kali's family was, and it seemed I had missed quite a lot of things from yesterday, I wanted to go to the White Fang HQ in Kuo Kuana as fast as possible to figure out those things.

Kali's smile grew, and Ghira chuckled in a way that told me I didn't have any say in the matter. Not a second later, Kali grasped her daughter with one hand and me with the other and hauled us out of the room like mere ragdolls.

From one blink to the next, I was dropped into the comfortable sitting cushion of a low table that held a variety of bowls filled with colored creamy looking things that smelled of garlic and spices but didn't look like anything I had eaten before and plates with raw fishes I couldn't name.

The start of the breakfast was awkward for me as nobody said a word or touched a dish until I bit into a bread roll Ghira all but forced on my hands, "Good, right?" he asked, and I only nodded as I savored the buttery taste.

To say that the awkwardness disappeared would have been a lie, it remained like a bucket of gravel lodged in my shoulders. Kali laughed at her husband's expenses, the man who I only knew as a severe leader played with a slice of bread and didn't use a napkin enough times and got scolded continuously. Blake failed miserably at looking stern, and instead, a few giggles kept dancing out of her lips.

It was so awkward, so uncomfortable.

My mask was suffocating, my eyes were blurry, and even though I was full, and my stomach had begun to feel bloated, my hands kept on taking little pieces here and there. I didn't know why, but I didn't want breakfast to end.

It was so uncomfortable, I couldn't do more than stare at a lonely bean at the edge of my plate, hearing laughter and craving more of it.

"Adam?" Helena's voice called my name, and I whipped my head towards her.

My eyes were so blurry, the sting of the salt burning my pupils.

Helena.

Mommy.

Her wild brown hair, her beautiful smile, everything was so blurry I couldn't see it, but I wanted to see her smile, so I blinked.

And instead, I found Kali watching me with worry in her eyes. The table was quiet, and a shuddering breath escaped my lips before I could contain it.

I tried to not look like I wanted to run away as I stood up. Shoulders rigid, my fist clenched. "Thank you for inviting me," I bowed my head and felt a crystalline tear unlatch from my skin and kiss my mask, making me thankful that they wouldn't notice it at all.

"I have to go report now to the HQ, I… I appreciate your hospitality."

Ghira and Kali shared a look with grim faces, but neither said a word before Ghira nodded. "Enjoy your stay in Menagerie."

I took that as a dismissal, and I did a half-turn and got out of the room as fast as my legs could manage without running. I went through a highly decorated corridor with expensive-looking wooden statues and then another, which instead seemed to be filled with family pictures that I did my best to ignore. I kept on walking, and it wasn't until I saw those pictures again that I noticed the house was kind of a labyrinth.

"Adam?" Blake asked from behind me, she was holding her hands together and seemed confused. I didn't want to seem rude, but I didn't know either what to say before she gave me a shy smile. "The house is a bit hard to navigate, isn't it?" she asked, and I nodded.

She walked past me. "I will take you to the front door."

"Thank you."

We went in silence, and we reached the entrance. Blake went to the door and pressed one hand on it as if she were to push it open, but instead, she turned toward me with an expression in her face that made her look like she was trying to decide something.

"You know," she began without looking at me, "Maybe the way you… defeated the huntsman wasn't the right one, but… I think it is good that you care enough to understand that." She gave me a nervous smile and opened the door.

I didn't know how to respond to that.

Finding the White Fangs headquarters wasn't hard, a giant pole held the blue banner of the organization proudly high above the roofs of the houses and the canopies of the palm trees and could be seen from almost anywhere in the city.

The walk wasn't long, either. The building was at the docks, and at first glance, it looked just like any other from the city, with the only difference being the pair of guards wearing bandanas over their mouths stationed at the door.

I was let in without an issue, and I found myself being prompted by a guard to go into what I expected to be the branch's leader's office, but instead, I opened the door and came right into what looked more like a temple. The room centered around a crimson carpet, with the sidewalls having some bookshelves behind long stone tables that held multiple lighted candles.

What captured my attention, though, was the stone tablet at the front wall, which held what appeared to be an altar for the painting of a hooded man with long ears. At each side of the platform was a crimson banner with a modified symbol of the white fang.

The logo lacked the circle around and instead had three claw marks behind a much more feral looking animal head. I was so curious about it that I almost didn't notice the three people inside the room.

To one side of the room was Sienna, I arched an eyebrow when I noticed how her clothes seemed to have slightly changed, with the addition of a back-revealing red cape with gold accents that made her look even more regal than she appeared before.

On the other side were two men that looked more like a pair of priests, both were so similar as they wore black tunics, white pants, and orange hoods. Both also shared the same dark skin, but they had the striking difference that one had gigantic, furry fox ears while the other had a thick tail of the same orange color. One of the priests had his hands ahead of his chest as if he were praying while the other was holding a long and slim object wrapped beneath a crimson cloth.

"You finally arrived, where were you?" Sienna said before she grinned and her hands landed on her waist, everything from her face to her posture seemed to be throwing smugness that left me a little bit confused, I had never seen Sienna act so joyfully in front of others.

"I was… indispose for the night, I stayed with Kali Belladonna." My words made her frown for a moment that didn't last more than a breath before it disappeared.

"You stayed with the Belladonnas? Not something I expected Ghira to do at all… no matter, now that I am the high leader of the white fang, we can finally start to actively pursue our objectives more efficiently."

I was happy I had the mask on as it hid the surprise coming from my eyes at the news, but I couldn't hold my tongue, "Ghira is no longer in control?"

Sienna chuckled. "He finally accepted his peaceful methods were not what we needed. Your actions yesterday helped our cause a lot, Adam."

Sienna waved at the priests, and they took a step forward toward me in unison.

"These gentlemen are the Albain brothers, leaders of the Menagerie Branch of the organization."

"We are humbled by meeting you, Adam Taurus, I'm Fennec Albain," said the one with ears.

"And I'm Corsac Albain," said the other before he rose the object in his hands toward me like an offering. "These were finished with your exact specifications. We hope it is of your liking."

"What?" I asked, and Sienna chuckled with a prideful smirk on her face.

"I told you before, Adam." She stood between the brothers and me, a self-satisfied look on her face. One of her hands landed on the object that Corsac held. "Now, it is time for you to get what you deserve."

She grabbed the cloth and pulled it, revealing what was hidden underneath it…

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**...It is a banana**

**Joke, but that would be quite hilarious, don't you think? This chapter showcases a lot of the mental struggles that Adam is going through and how his head is closing to a breaking point and Adam doesn't realize it. He likes to act strong for the world but inside, he couldn't be farthest away from that idea.**

**One thing I wanted to explore in-depth on this work was mental illness, especially PTSD. One thing I don't want to do at all throughout the narration is to simply state, "oh Adam has this, this, and that." I want you like readers to see that he has those problems not because I tell you he has but because you see them on his actions and thoughts. **

**I don't know if I am doing it but heck, that's what learning is all about. **

**I'm also delighted that I got to include Blake's family a lot in this chapter as I love her parents a lot. **

**One last thing I want to point out, something I honestly didn't expect I would need to say but this work is only an Adam/Blake fiction. This is NOT a harem and will never be. If you have read my profile, you will know I hate harems with a passion.**

**Now for questions!**

**Last Chapter's Question:**** If you could throw a tomato without retaliation to any character's face in RWBY, who would you pick and why? **

**I would throw a tomato at Hazel, I dislike everything about him, from his boring combat style to his ridiculously stupid backstory and motivations. **

**Question of the Chapter:**** Which RWBY volume do you like the most? **

**Don't forget to leave a review if you liked the chapter! even a few words can brighten up my days... and I'm in high school, any light is good when I drown inside this hellish landscape! **


	8. Log 8: The Swords

**Warning: This work is rated T for a reason; there is Violence, Blood, Angst, and the mention of serious topics like racism and mental illness that merit this rating. This work of Fanfiction will never have any material that would send it over the edge to an M rating like Lemons or highly descriptive scenes of violence.**

**Salutations everybody!**

**UninstallME here, I couldn't wait to release this log for reasons that will be obvious after you read it, I won't bore you with an Author note!**

**Here is the eighth chapter of REwrite: Adam. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I love writing it!**

**And as always, I do not own RWBY!**

**Enjoy! **

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**Volume 1**

**Log 8: The Swords**

**Menagerie – Kuo Kuana – Albain Twin's Office**

Have you ever been in a situation where you are sure you should be paying attention to what others are saying around you? Where you are sure what it is being said is of upmost importance even if it didn't have something to do directly with you?

"High Leader Ghira Belladonna is a deserter," said one of the Albain twins, their voices were so similar, and they always spoke with the same monotone tone that without looking, I couldn't know which one had said that.

"But his departure benefits the greater cause," said the other before suddenly Sienna smashed her sandal in the floor with enough strength to make the twins and I all flinch and direct our attention to her.

She was frowning. Sienna didn't appear to be angry but somewhat disappointed. "Enough. I won't have my subordinates acting so lowly as to belittle him. Ghira was and is a good leader, but he is not a warrior. He understood that his skills will help our people better as the chieftain of Menagerie rather than as the High Leader of the White Fang."

Both Albain brothers bowed to her and took a step back with their hands over their chest as if they were praying.

"Forgive us, High Leader," one said and. "We were out of line," the other finished. I wasn't about to admit out loud that I had already forgotten which one was who with how much shocking information I was currently receiving, and I was more than happy to be ignored while I clenched my hands over my prize.

My personal view of the man was conflicting at best. Bad first impression, an acceptable second one. But abandoning our cause…

But that was when Sienna's golden eyes returned to me with a grin in her lips. "Nevertheless, I didn't call you here to bore you with politics." her hand pointed at what I held in mines before she said, "Go on, check it. I want to make sure you are content with the end results."

What laid in my hands couldn't be described as anything else than art. It was a long sword with a beautiful and simplistic, dark-gray hilt that appeared much more modern compared to the dark scabbard it was currently resting in. The top of the sheath seemed to have a mechanism resembling those of a rifle with a gun trigger, but the rest of the sheath was made of elegant walnut wood.

"The type of sword is that which you requested, sir Adam," said the Albain brother with ears. The twins came closer to me, and the one with a tail pointed at the sword.

"But we hope you find our modification to the design… pleasing," said the one with a tail. "Please unsheathe it."

I did.

My eyes marveled as a crimson one-edge blade came out of the scabbard. The light of the candles reflected on it as if it was made of glass, but the weight of it said differently. A smile crept up on my lips but disappeared almost instantly as I was surprised when the sheath's wooden section shrank instantaneously to the point that it was now smaller than the other part of it.

"You two made this?" I asked as I held the katana by its hilt and rose it above my head to watch the reflections of the lights on its edge better.

"The Albain brothers are not only the Menagerie Branch's leaders," Sienna said with a hint of pride in her voice, "They are also our best crafters."

"The sword's name is Wilt, Sir Adam," said the brother with ears, and I had to look at him curiously as his voice had stopped being so monotonous as he kept talking about the sword, "It is a Chokuto, similar to a Katana but its blade is straight and more aerodynamic. We also took additional effort to infuse the metal with red dust, which will increase its firepower."

"The scabbard's name is Blush, Sir Adam," said the other brother but with his still dead tone as if he were reciting everything from memory. "It is a combination between a sheath for Wilt and a high powered, semi-automatic rifle capable of shooting dust bullets when the sword is unsheathed as well as having the ability to fire the blade itself."

I wasn't sure of how to respond as I slowly moved the blade in the air, is swum on it like it was meant to slash the world itself, I then went to sheath it again and couldn't do more than stare in wonder as the blade slid inside the scabbard perfectly while the sheath's recovered its original size to match the sword.

"Wilt… and Blush."

"They are your reward for your loyalty and your efforts for the cause, use them well." Sienna's hand landed on my shoulder before she walked away and to the back of the room, near the altar where the painting of the hooded man awaited her, and Sienna looked at it as if she were waiting for the hooded man to tell her something.

"Thank you, Si- High Leader," I said as I noticed how both brothers walked away from me and stood back at the side of the room with their hands over their chest in a praying position.

"Now, Adam, you know what this weapon means." Sienna wasn't looking at me, but she nodded, and I went to the center of the room and kneeled there, making sure to laid Blush delicately next to me.

Sienna turned to watch me, and I bowed my head. "I want you to become a special operative and lead an infiltration team... but Although I have trained you with the basic weapons we use in the organization, I believe you will require more extensive training if you are to take this new role with this weapon on your hand."

A pleased smirk appeared in her lips, and she crossed her hands behind her back. "I have come to notice something that I think I should have realized much sooner. When I gave you free rein with your clothes and the mask design and you came up with a Grimm mask, and then you asked me for a katana… It all reminded me of a very unpleasant woman."

Disbelief and shock forced my head up to find Sienna showing me a cocky smirk that showcased her sharp teeth, but before I could open my mouth…

A red portal made of a crimson mist appeared floating in the air on the empty side of the office, the gaping black maw on its center hid everything behind it, the thing emitted no sound, and I forced my eyes to blink twice as a mixture of both dread and hope torn inside me as I wished for the thing to be but a hallucination and at the same time I didn't.

And it wasn't.

I couldn't do more than stare at it with my mouth hanging ajar when then something began to emerge from it.

Four red eyes stared back at me from the void.

And then the same woman of so many years ago came out from it like an apparition made real before the portal disappeared. She still wore her same bloody colored clothes and the Grimm helmet. Her Sword hanged from her side as if she had not been affected by the passage of all those years at all.

"So…" began the voice of that woman from behind the mask, so eerily that it made the hairs of my back stand in attention. "You are still alive, Faunus boy?"

I could feel the smile on her face even if I couldn't see it. "Not thanks to you." I spat the words without trying to hide the resentment I felt.

The woman crossed her arms, and the chin of her helmet rose up a little as if she were looking down on me. "Who do you think told the rest of your kind where to find that little hole in the ground you called home?"

The revelation was interesting, but I didn't care, sadly I didn't get the chance to reply before Sienna interrupted us.

"Will you train him?" she asked the masked woman. The woman chuckled and took a single step towards me while her left hand landed lazily over the sheath of her sword.

She chuckled darkly before responding, "heh, he seems to have become into my little fanboy."

"Will you or not?" Sienna asked, her tone of voice sounding as irritated as I felt.

"Yes, yes, I will." The masked woman now sounded just as annoyed as her open palm pointed at me, but her helmet looked toward the high leader. "Consider this my payment for what I owe you…" She looked at me. "And you."

Her hand went to her sword, and she grasped the hilt. The twins flinched as if they were expecting the woman to attack, but Sienna didn't react at all. The woman gave everyone her back and drew her sword.

She glanced at me, her crimson eyes almost mocking me. "Are you coming or not?" she asked, and just as I was standing up from the floor, she sliced the air in front of her, and one of her portals materialized there.

She went through it without another word, and I walked up to the portal. I couldn't see a thing as I stared at the gaping dark maw on its center. I hesitated and felt the need to gulp, but I didn't. I rose my feet to take my first step into it.

"Adam," The high leader called my name, and I glanced at her. For the first time in my life, I saw something akin to worry painted over her golden eyes, her ears flattened against her hair, and she had her fingers digging deep into her forearms.

"High leader?" I asked.

She closed her eyes and shook her head before she spoke, "don't die."

For some reason, even with such an uncannily goodbye. I didn't feel scared, I didn't feel nervous.

I just felt…

"I won't."

I stepped in.

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**Anima – Southern Zone – Unknown**

The blinding light of the sun struck painfully through the four slits of my mask and forced me to cover myself with a hand. My eyes slowly acclimated to the light to find I was in the middle of a clear in a forest I couldn't recognize.

A warm breeze gripped my clothes and made the bottom tips of my blazer flutter. While the shadows of the nearby trees seemed to giggle at my presence here.

The masked woman stood ahead of me, near the edge of the clear. The shadows played with her presence, highlighting the red light coming out of the slits of her helmet.

"Where are we?" I asked loud enough to make sure she could hear my question, and she snorted loud enough that I could listen to her response right after.

"In the middle of nowhere."

My fingers squeezed blush, and I couldn't stop my eyes from going away from the woman to inspect my surroundings more, although the burning fire of the sun illuminated the empty space where we were clearly, the forest around us was so thick that there wasn't even a ray of light going through.

"For all you know," she said as she began walking toward me. "There could be Grimm hiding on that tree behind you, boy."

I glanced back and frowned behind my mask, I couldn't hear a thing in that direction, but I couldn't see anything either, it was as if the edge of the world was just beyond the trunks of the trees.

"But don't worry about the Grimm now," she was just a couple of feet away from me and closing that distance, one hand lazily placed over the sheath of her sword, while the other rested on the hilt. "There are more dangerous things out here that you should be worried about."

My free hand itched, and I moved to hold onto Wilt's hilt. The masked woman nodded as if she approved of it, but the dangerous glint in her blood eyes made me waver and only hover my fingers over it.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Me!" the masked woman disappeared in a blink of an eye, and the sharp blue edge of a sword flashed right between my eyes.

I tried unsheathing Wilt at the same time I rose Blush, but I wasn't fast enough, and the blue blade met Wilt's red one halfway out from Blush. The swords kissed with sparks flashing as the woman pushed harder, and her helmet came to be a mere breath away from my mask.

"Fight to live, live to fight, boy!" She shouted. She moved away from me and kicked my blade, pushing me back and almost making me lose my footing.

I went to take a step forward, but her blade came horizontally at me faster than I would be able to parry it.

I let my knees give underneath me, and I went down, barely escaping the tip of her sword as the blue metal caressed my mask like a lover. I wanted to get back up, but she wouldn't let me.

The woman stabbed to the right of my face, and I tried to dodge, and I knew I failed when I felt the blade graze my earlobe, her sword retreated and slashed sideways, but I caught up to it and met it with the broad side of mine.

I got a knee up, and she twirled in the ground on one heel and came with a kick on the other side that met my shoulder and blew me back into the ground. "Bring your aura already or die!" the masked woman ordered.

I pulled on my soul, feeling the invisible skin covering my body, and my red aura shined above me, but I couldn't enjoy it as the masked woman's blue blade slashed at me.

I rolled out of the way and kept on going, wanting to gain some distance to stand up, but she followed me, and the moment I stopped and put a hand in the ground to push myself off it, I saw the glint of the blade at the edge of my vision.

Coming closer.

Closer.

I couldn't dodge.

I aimed Blush to the ground and pulled the trigger.

An explosion engulfed us both, the recoil launched me into the air toward the edge of the clearing, and the sole of my shoes smashed against the trunk of a tree that I used to push myself back into the cloud of smoke.

I went for the counterattack from above as I flew to her, raising my blade high above my head to slash down, but then a blue glint coming from the side made me rise my scabbard in reflex.

The woman's blade impacted against Blush, and with her strength alone, she pushed me to the side, and I landed standing a few feet away.

She came at me with her sword high and both of her hands in the hilt, and I meet her blade between the cross of my sword and scabbard.

She was taller than me.

Stronger than me.

Her blade was slowly gaining ground as if the weight of the world was pushing me to the dirt.

Rage was in my blood, adrenaline in my brain. The sharp blue edge coming closer between my eyes, and as I heard the woman laugh, the pressure in my body ran out of my mouth in a warcry that burned my throat.

The woman retreated, her blade dancing away and coming back to strike sideways only for me to meet its movements with mine.

It came from above.

From the side.

Down, up again.

A kick from the left that met my sheath. The woman went down and twirled in the ground before her leg came to break mines, but I leaped over her and rolled in the grass to get back up.

She was behind me, and I couldn't see her. I turned with Blush aimed and my finger already pressing the trigger blindly. I pushed it once, twice.

She met the first bullet head-on, the sharp blue edge slicing it, and igniting an explosion that hid her from my view before the other bullet flashed inside the smoke and exploded as well.

I kept my rifle sheath up and ready, but I took the chance to breathe.

"Tired already?" came her haunting and teasing voice from inside the darkness, and I clenched my teeth in annoyance while I scanned the smoke for any signs of her.

Four crimson eyes laughed at me from the void.

I pulled the trigger and saw the bullet swam through the air to meet those eyes only for it to be consumed by the darkness without exploding.

The eyes disappeared as if they had never been there.

The masked woman ran off the side of the smoke cloud, and I aimed Blush at her, but before I could fire, she stopped running and slashed upwards with her blade, and the ground trembled beneath me, making me overshoot as I pulled the trigger.

The ground broke apart, and a line of man-sized ice spikes crept from the dirt and came at me, and I gasped before I tried to dodge to the side.

But I wasn't fast enough.

I moved out of the way just in the nick of time, but the bottom part of Blush got caught in the ice while I still held tightly to it by the trigger, and I recoiled, and my back smashed against the cold ice.

The masked woman slashed upwards again, and another line of spikes rushed toward my direction, and I felt dread bite into my muscles.

But it wasn't aimed at me.

I was trap now between two walls of solid ice, with Blush stuck halfway inside one and almost not enough space to wield Wilt comfortably. I glanced behind me and found the way out bared by the thick trunk of a massive tree that had been impaled by the icy walls.

The woman stood still; her blade lazily held in one hand. I could imagine the smirk that she must have had in her face, and it made me snort in anger like a bull would have.

She had me trapped.

My only way out was through her.

I grasped Wilt's hilt with both my hands. A drop of sweat slithered inside my mask at the edge of my branded eye, dancing through the ridges of the scars laid on it.

"Come, Faunus, boy!"

I did.

My feet bit into the ground, the dirt flying. Rage running up my lungs, a scream of war burning my tongue. My blade to the side, fingers clenching on the plastic grip, its edge carving the ice as I moved forward.

I charged.

The masked woman stood her ground, her sword in her hands. Her eyes burning with crimson cold. A blue light on the edge of her sword. A cold mist spreading from it.

Sparks on my blade, the ice melting away.

I was coming closer, running at the masked woman.

Fire in my eyes.

Fire in my soul.

Fire in my blade.

The sparks on the edge of Wilt's crackled before the whole blade ignited into a raging inferno.

We were mere breaths away from each other, Wilt sliced downwards, and the masked woman's sword came from below as a pillar of ice burst from the ground beside it and charged toward me to meet me.

Fire and Ice.

Edge and edge.

The four crimson eyes behind her mask glimmered.

And our blades met.

An explosion broke the world apart as the walls of ice around us were consumed by tongues of fire. I lost the grip on my blade, and Wilt flew out of my hands as the pillar of ice demolished my defense before crashing against my stomach.

I was in the air before my brain could register what was happening, the cracking sound of wood and the flaring pain in my back made me realize I had smashed against the tree before I collapsed on my knees coughing my life away.

My aura broke like shards of red glass around me, but I couldn't do much about it as I kept holding onto my stomach just trying to breathe.

"Acceptable aim and reflexes," said the woman. Her shadow came to loom over me, and I was surprised she even said something positive.

I had expected her to finish me.

Which she then did as she continued, "but your swordsmanship is sloppy, and your footwork is non-existent." I couldn't stop a chuckle from coming out of me even if it hurt like the devil as she then sheathed her sword and offered me her hand.

I took it, grasping her wrist and getting up as she pulled me. "That ice… your sword is like mine?" I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.

"Like yours?" she said before her helmet shook in denial. "Your blade is simply infused with dust, mine is made of it."

The icy walls that had once trapped me were long gone, and only the carved lines in the ground they had created remained. The masked woman began to walk away to the left and hopped over the scar in the earth as she kept walking.

I went to pick up Wilt and Blush while I paid attention as she continued talking, "compared to yours, mine could be considered a glass cannon, strong but delicate. Yours balances both aspects by having a more resilient blade but lesser firepower. Against someone of my own strength, I would have had to replace my blade three or four times…" She stopped walking. Her four crimson eyes gazed at me. "But you? You didn't even scratch it."

She turned toward me and rose one single finger up. "One year."

"Huh?" I said in confusion.

"You have one year to break one of my blades, or I will dispose of you, Faunus boy."

I did my best not to show it, but I was so tired mentally and physically that I couldn't contain my annoyance at that nickname anymore. "That's not my name! My name is Adam Taurus."

A single laugh escaped her helmet, and I gritted my teeth, expecting her to mock me but instead…

"Adam? A pleasure. I am…"

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**Anima – Western Zone – Mistral Jungle Swamps**

"Raven…" My teacher's name slithered out of my mouth in a whisper while I glanced down to the object between my fingers.

The edge of the shattered blue blade was still just as sharp as in the day it broke. It reflected the light in a way that made me believe if I concentrated enough on it, I would be able to see the reflection of my mask as if it was a mirror.

I sighed and tried to get more comfortable on the rock I was sitting on, it was slightly wet and cold to the touch, but it was better than the muddy ground of the swamps around me, the thick foliage of the jungle danced with the breeze and the waterfall to my left made the place much more relaxing than it should have been.

This was one of those times I truly wished I had a scroll of my own, almost everyone had one of those smartphone-like things, but I seemed to always forget about asking how to get one when I came back from a mission.

So many things had changed in the past year while I was training, it had been somewhat annoying how out of the loop I felt when I came back two weeks ago. The White Fang had become extremely active and aggressive. Members had once simply worn casual clothes with bandanas over their faces to hide their identities, but the first thing I discovered when I came back two weeks ago was the uniforms everyone wore.

The most curious part of them was the simpler Grimm-like masks that had replaced the bandanas, Sienna had not literally told me she had designed them with mine as an inspiration, but the implication was written all over her face when I met her after leaving my teacher.

I wasn't sure how I felt about it.

A voice got me out of my thoughts, the waterfall muted most of whatever the person was saying, but I could decipher that the speaker was a girl, it sounded familiar enough to keep my hand away from Wilt's hilt as I stashed the broken blade into my jacket and got up to await for my visitors.

I crossed my arms as Ilia pushed away some giant leaves that revealed me to them. I arched an eyebrow behind my mask when Ilia Amitola and no other than Blake Belladonna came into my domain.

I had been expecting Ilia, but Blake openly showcased the surprise that I was also feeling but didn't show as she gave a little leap in place, and her hands came up as her mouth turned into an 'O.'

Blake's clothes differed a lot from any uniform, she was wearing a black buttoned vest with coattails above a white sleeveless undershirt. A black scarf coiled around her neck, and she had white shorts and black stockings that ended on a pair of low-heeled boots.

But it wasn't her clothes exactly that brought my attention. Instead, it was the black ribbon tied as a bow that perfectly hid her cat ears that had me completely baffled.

"Blake," said Ilia as she kept the leaves away for the other girl to come closer. "I think you know Adam Taurus?"

Blake didn't respond and instead kept staring at me like if I had grown a third horn while I wasn't looking. It was slightly uncomfortable until she seemed to notice she was staring and shook her head.

"Blake?" Ilia said while frowning with worry.

"Yes," Blake nodded fast. "Of course, I know him." Blake smiled and held her hands together as she stepped into the clear and allowed Ilia to finally let go of the leaves.

"Change of plans?" I finally asked.

Ilia gave me a smile that was quite obviously fake as she nodded.

"I got orders to go back to menagerie since Blake arrived." she chuckled awkwardly and began to twirl the end of her ponytail in one finger as her eyes ran away from me. "I was just meant to just be your temporal partner for your first mission since you came back, sir."

I wished somebody would have told that to me, but I didn't complain out loud. "I see, thank you for your services, Ilia."

Ilia seemed like she wanted to say something more. She hesitated with her lips turning into a thin line before she smiled. "Your new orders."

Ilia took out a manila folder from her clothes, which had Blake tilting her head to the side in confusion as she handed it to me. Then she turned toward Blake, and they hugged in a way that told me they must have known each other quite well, Ilia whispered something to Blake and then left the same way she had come, disappearing into the jungle foliage as if she had never been here at all.

"I wasn't expecting you to still be one of us," I said, trying to sound casual and make some friendly conversation before we spoke about work, but by how Blake sighed, I didn't think I succeeded.

"I know it may seem… strange for me to still be part of the white fang, but…" Blake walked toward the waterfall and rested her elbows on a tall rock near it. "I want to make a better world for the Faunus, my family is safe in Menagerie but so many others… they aren't."

My lips became a thin line, and I came closer to her. If I was right, Blake was two years younger than me, and since I was fifteen, there was a strange feeling in my guts that keep twisting and twisting at the idea of someone as naïve as her getting into our line of work.

Ilia, Yuma, Trifa and I mostly grew up on the White Fang, all of us had a closet full of bones to pick with the humans and knew what the horrors of those things were, but Blake?

"Your father wasn't wrong, you know," I said, and she looked at me with evident confusion in her face. "Calling us radicals, I mean."

She closed her eyes, and her face moved to point to the sky. "If he is right, then you could get out, you know, turn yourself in. Do penance. Ask for a pardon for the extreme measures you've taken." Her eyes opened and landed on me. "You'd have a new life," she said.

I couldn't avoid my expression from turning somber as my displeasure flared inside my veins. "And you know why I can't do that."

"Exactly," she smiled that innocent grin of hers that told me she didn't really know what she was signing up for.

"You will be my partner in missions that could be considered dangerous," I warned her. "Rescue operations, sabotage, stealing… those would be the tip of the iceberg."

"Yep," she said with a smirk in her eyes.

I smiled and said sarcastically while I sat back on my rock, "You are not afraid."

She didn't seem to notice my sarcasm as she proudly twirled like a ballerina making her long black hair dance to the whim of the breeze. She gave me a prideful smile and kept her hand delicately just near her lips as if she were one of those ridiculous rich women from Atlas.

"Nothing you could say could frighten me," she stated and forced a chuckle out of me that she quickly followed with her own giggling.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, I thought, if she proved to be efficient, I don't think I would mind having her around, I just hoped I could figure out a way to cure her out of her naivety quickly. It had been quite a painful road for me, and even I still struggled with it, I had yet to manage squashing down that little voice inside my head that always begged me not to pull the trigger.

I opened the manila folder to start reading. Good, it appeared our first mission as a team would be a simple package retrieval. Just grab the smuggled goods from the supplier in the nearest human town and deliver them to the White Fang base a couple of days south of here.

I could see from the edge of my vision that Blake had a cleaver-like sword magnetically attached to her back, which I recognized, I had heard of the ridiculously classified 'variant ballistic chain scythe,' in simpler terms it was like a swiss knife of a blade: A cleaver-like sheath hid a smaller katana like blade inside that could also open up to transform into a sickle that was also a pistol.

The ingenuity of the people in Remnant never stopped surprising me.

She seemed to be well equipped, but I would like to test her skills before I dared put her in any danger. I owed Kali too much to go and endanger her daughter even if we weren't in speaking terms any longer.

Blake sat next to me. "Hey, Adam?"

"Hm?"

She pulled her fancy, fancy scroll out of her shorts and shook it a little before she used it to point at the folder between my hands. "Do you don't know what a scroll is?"

My lips curled downwards, and air escaped out of my nose in utter annoyance. Blake laughed, her giggles were as sweet as a melody, and her attempts to hide them behind her hand only made that smile in my face a little bit easier to make.

I found myself thinking that I would not mind if that sound came more often from her. Mayhap it wouldn't be so bad if Blake remained an innocent and naïve girl. I dared to say that perhaps, I would even enjoy it.

Maybe it all would be fine.

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**And that's the end of the chapter!**

**One thing I always disliked about Adam in RWBY was how they completely forgot about how his sword could catch fire like it did on the black trailer. Now since Adam doesn't have his Yang-like semblance on REwrite's canon, he will have to rely more on Wilt's fiery edge to win the day.**

** I hope you guys like that change, I believe one of the things that make Adam's fighting style so enjoyable to watch is how although at first glance it is so utilitarian it also has a lot of spectacle and pretty lights coming from his semblance, I wanted to still retain that on here somehow, and I hope fire is a suitable substitution. **

**One hard choice I had to make in this chapter was which fight I wanted to keep the chapter of an acceptable size. Initially, there were two fights between Adam and Raven but I decided that the first one was better for character development. I would like to know if you guys would like to see the other fight as a flashback in the future or not. **

**I also have to admit I'm a wee bit sad nobody is ever answering any of my chapter questions. It makes me feel a bit lonely. Either way, I won't give up! To the questions!**

**Last Chapter's Question: ****Which RWBY volume do you like the most?**

**Before I finished volume 7, I would have said that Volume 3 was my favorite as it felt like the actual start of the plot in my opinion but yeah, volume 7 is now my favorite. Having my two favorite villains as the main baddies and also Iron Daddy running around with that sexy beard. Oh yeah! What else could a girl want? **

**_Question of the Chapter:_**** Which character from RWBY would you like to see more off in Volume 8? **


	9. Log 9: The Four Years

**Warning: This work is rated T for a reason; there is Violence, Blood, Angst, and the mention of serious topics like racism and mental illness that merit this rating. This work of Fanfiction will never have any material that would send it over the edge to an M rating like Lemons or highly descriptive scenes of violence.**

**Salutations everybody!**

**Is everyone ready for the next part of the story? I have been so excited about this one and I can't wait for you guys to read it, go, go!**

**Here is the ninth chapter of REwrite: Adam. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I love writing it!**

**And as always, I do not own RWBY!**

**Enjoy!**

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**Volume 1**

**Log 9: The Four Years**

**Atlas – Dust Mine #435 – Worker Pits.**

**When I was sixteen…**

I think that had I noticed it earlier on, I would have been terrified of it. Maybe I did, and my brain decided best to ignore it until I would accept it… Until I would admit it to myself.

The ground shook coincidentally at the same time the guard's body plopped on the ground, the hole on his chest leaving a trail of smoke on its wake as I caressed Blush's trigger with my finger, feeling an itch on it that demanded I feed it more.

But I didn't have time for that.

"Did you find it?" I asked, and I turned to look at my partner.

Blake had her hands deep in the pockets of another downed guard on the floor, but I noticed with a frown that the man was only unconscious and still breathing.

"Got it." Blake got up with an ID card between her fingers, she glanced at the body of the guard I had killed but then handed me the ID without a word.

We were deep inside of an old-looking tunnel, the sides of it lined with empty cages… we knew not all of them were so empty. The ceiling of the cave trembled, and a few pieces of it crumbled down as the fight above us in the central part of the mine became more rampant.

"Check the left side," I said.

We ran together through the tunnel, a couple of cages in we found only one that had been filled to the brim with Faunus children that seemed like they had been malnourished on purpose just so they could all fit in one box.

I came to the door and swiped the ID card, the thing peeped once, and the red light on the lock turned green.

The door pop open by itself. Right away, the children closer to the door saw me, and one of them screamed, and I sighed.

I wasn't good with kids, I was awkward at best, and thanks to my mask, I scared most of them faster than I could say, "sorry."

Thankfully Blake didn't suffer from these issues.

I took a step back to clear the way, and Blake got into the cage with a bright smile on her face. "You are all safe now, the White Fang is here."

I kept my attention on the tunnel while she calmed the kids enough so we could get them out, but I couldn't stop my eyes from glancing at her dark hair while she kneeled and embraced a crying girl.

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**Mistral – Mistralian Factory – Bullhead Hangar**

It slithered inside my thoughts like a tumor, so invisible at the beginning. It was a warm feeling, one so unlike any other because it felt right at home there, it was pleasant, and I found myself enjoying it without even realizing what it was.

We ran through a labyrinth of dismantled Bullheads and other vehicles, Blake was ahead of me with each of her hands holding onto a suitcase while I held my blade and its sheath in my hands.

The whistling of a bullet tingled on my ear, and I turned with my blade up just in time to slice it in half. I got a good look at the swarm of Atlesian droids trying to follow us. I aimed Blush at the pair of suitcases I had left beyond the dismantled vehicles.

I pulled the trigger, the crimson projectile flew past the droids to hit the white suitcase, and it exploded in a chain reaction that quickly ate the second one before consuming the machines and the droids.

Blake laughed ahead of me, and I found myself smirking before I noticed the explosion was coming a little bit too fast. "Run!"

I caught up with her, an unbearable heat slowly creeping on my back, an ocean of fire was biting at our feet, and I ran behind Blake and pulled her out of the ground and carried her.

"Hey!" she shouted before her eyes caught the hellfire chasing us, and instead of complaining more, she screamed, "Run faster!" to the top of her lungs right on my ear. Her hands still held onto the suitcases, but her arms wrapped tightly over my neck, and she squeezed hard enough that it hurt.

I didn't mind it.

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**Atlas – Mantle – Random Cheap Motel**

I found myself trying to name that feeling. I can admit I didn't do an excellent job at it as it should have been obvious, but it still escaped my lips. Now I think I may have even been avoiding the answer altogether.

Blake sat cross-legged on the bed at the edge of the room. The small window beside her, framing her as if she was part of a painting while she kept reading her book. The orange, artificial brightness coming from outside adorned her pale skin, and I found myself halfway stuck through the bathroom door as I tried to find the reflection of the light in her eyes as well.

It made me smile, to think that the same girl that teased me about not having a scroll and doing all my reports on paper was also the same one that couldn't live without having a real book to read every night.

"What?" she asked, she turned the page of her book, but she glanced at me with an arched eyebrow and innocent curiosity dancing in her eyes.

"Nothing." Her words broke me out of that mysterious spell, and I finally got inside the bathroom, closing the door a little harder than I should have. I took a cold shower to try and get my head back from the gutter, I dressed again in my clothes except for my blazer and made sure to get my mask on. When I got out, the room was dark, and I found Blake already inside the comfort of her bed.

Her back was facing me, and like always, she wasn't wearing her bow to bed. Her ears were twitching in a way that made me curious, but I didn't wish to bother her. I went toward our backpacks between the beds to store my toiletries when I noticed a gift box sticking out of my bag.

It was a simple rectangular box with a bow stapled to it, it had not been there before, and I stole a look at the twitching ears on Blake's bed before I pulled on the bow to unravel it before I opened the box.

A scroll waited inside and made me tilt my head to the side in confusion.

I heard the sheets move behind me, and when I glanced toward Blake's bed, I found a smiling girl with shining golden eyes staring at me from inside them.

"Thank you."

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**Anima – The City of Mistral – Haven's Air Harbor**

I misunderstood it for camaraderie, simple friendship perhaps. People care for their comrades, they worry for them, they think of them. That night at the harbor was the first wakeup call I got.

The airship's engines roared to life, I barely had enough knowledge to turn the Mistralian flying can on, but I hoped that would be enough to at least get out of here and crash it somewhere safe.

A straight bullet impacted the glass of the cockpit, and I cursed out loud.

I left the controls and grabbed my weapons from the co-pilot seat, and went down the stairs to the lower hull of the airship. "Blake, we are leaving!"

She wasn't inside yet, I went to the large access hatch and found Blake a few steps away from it.

On the floor and unarmed.

A guard with an ax above her.

I aimed at the man.

His weapon came down. Blake rose her arms to her face.

I pulled the trigger.

My blade was fired from the scabbard, the hilt nailed the man on his head. The guard's gray aura flared up to protect him, but the impact still threw him backward, and the man lost the hold of his weapon as the ax fell harmlessly from his hand.

I ran and caught Wilt as it came down from the air intending on impaling him with it, but Blake was faster.

Blake picked the ax before it touched the ground, she twisted it and faced the blunt side of the weapon at the guard and smashed him in the head hard enough to break his aura and knock him sideways.

I grabbed her hand and pulled her up. "Thanks," she said, but I didn't answer as we ran back inside the airship and up the stairs towards the cockpit.

My hand was shaking.

She didn't let go.

* * *

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* * *

**Anima – Mistral territory – Abandoned Town**

I couldn't say when we started to anticipate each other's actions, it wasn't overnight, but when I realized it, it did feel like it had. Words had become a hurdle, unneeded. We fought like one, we were one.

I parried the Huntsman's blade as the man twirled around to meet Blake's cleaver-like sheath with his other sword. The man disengaged and leaped into the air. He connected his short swords by their hilts to turn them into an energy bow.

For someone fully covered in plate armor, the huntsman was incredibly agile, and he soared above the deteriorated and broken walls of the abandoned houses. With the sun behind his back.

An energy string appeared between the tips of his blades now turned a bow, and he pulled on it, and an arrow materialized in his hand and fired, a volley of three arrows came flying towards us in quick succession. Blake dodged the first and ran to follow him while I parried the next two energy arrows with my blade.

The man landed and separated his swords to meet Blake's blades, she kept harassing him while the man parried each attack skillfully but was forced to move back through the town's stone road.

I dashed at them.

I was a breath away from reaching Blake, I ran low with my back perpendicular with the ground so that the man couldn't see me from behind her. He was so distracted trying to keep Blake at bay, he didn't even seem to hear my footsteps.

I had one hand on my scabbard, finger on the trigger. The other on my sword's hilt, ready to pull Wilt.

Blake's blades came from above and smashed against the huntsman's. Blake pushed, but the man didn't give any ground, they were locked with neither of them giving up nor gaining.

I was right behind her.

I pulled the trigger of my scabbard, it fired my sword and ignited it on fire as I sliced sideways at both Blake and the man.

Blake disappeared.

The man squealed.

My sword smashed against the man's abdomen, unable to cut through his armor but burning his green aura entirely as it flared up and broke apart like shards of glass.

The impact propelled the man like a missile towards the building to the side, smashing right through the stone wall that then collapsed atop of him, leaving only his twitching limbs poking out of the rubble.

He was lucky we were only ordered to incapacitate him.

I sheathed my sword, keeping my hand ready on its hilt just in case of something else coming unexpectedly.

Blake stood beside me, a wide grin on her face. "You must be so happy I unlocked my semblance, is quite useful, isn't it?"

I was, though I wouldn't admit it.

I shrugged, and I began to walk away toward the exit of the town. "I still don't understand it," I said while I did my best to keep the smile out of my face. I heard Blake's frustration explode again in a loud groan. Maybe the joke was getting old after three weeks of it, but there was a certain charm that Blake had each time she got angry. Her ears hidden behind that silly bow over her head began to twitch and made the black ribbon unknot.

"Is not that hard!" she said, "I create shadow clones of myself, like… like a physical, after image, is very straightforward."

I couldn't hold the smirk out of my face any longer and instead strolled faster, so she wouldn't see it while she followed beside me. "No, still don't get it."

Blake didn't grumble, she growled.

Had I not had any kind of self-preservation instinct, I would have told her how much it made her sound like her father.

* * *

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* * *

**Anima – Northern Zone – Nameless Forest**

**When I was seventeen…**

I had never worried about my health before. With a semblance like mine, it always felt like a detriment to care. We were both injured, bruised. Our auras depleted after a successful mission almost gone wrong but in the safety of that campfire hidden in the trees.

Blake taught me to care, not for me, but for her.

The low embers cast their orange light over Blake's pale skin. She sat on the dry earth, her hair a mess, her clothes torn with various gashes littering her flesh, but what worried me the most was the bleeding cut on her belly.

I went to her, my aching bones groaned more loudly than my voice did as I kneeled next to her, and she gave me an understanding smile that I returned. I had the first aid kit, a tiny little plastic bag with the essentials right on my hands.

I leaned toward her, my hand going to touch her skin. I would transfer to myself only that significant injury and then work on the rest of the small gashes here and there in her arms before she went to sleep so she wouldn't have to wait for her aura to replenish. I would deal with the transferred wound after that.

Blake's hand grasped mine by the wrist. I frowned, and my eyes behind the mask met with hers. Her expression was muddied with a myriad of untold words that I could not decipher, and although her fingers were barely touching my skin, I didn't move or try to release myself.

"You don't have to." Her hand unlatched from my wrist only for her fingers to grasp my hand tightly.

I forced a grin on my tired lips. I hoped to get this done quickly so I could rest, my aura wasn't the only thing I was running low on. My arms felt heavy, my shoulders sagged, and my back ached with a numb coldness just for trying to keep me up.

"I still got enough on me for that one. No need to worry." I shook my hand a little to get her to let go, and she did, but Blake's other hand landed on my chest and shoved me harshly enough to shock the fake smile off me and drop me to the floor on my ass.

"No!" Blake put one hand in the ground and got up, her eyes closed against the pain of doing so, and her mouth taking a lungful of air as she fought against exhausting. Her fingers came to cover up the wound, but by the time she stood straight, only anger remained inside those spheres of molten gold.

"What's wrong?" I asked, confused, but she answered by swiping her hand at me in denial.

That anger burnt inside her eyes faster than it had appeared, her ears went low, and her shoulders slumped pathetically. Blake's fire melted away, leaving nothing but a tired husk behind. With begging eyes, she said, "No more lies, Adam, please."

"I don't understand what you mean," I said, a fleeting thought in the back of my head jarred with worry, but I ignored it, hoping I was wrong.

Rather than answer me, Blake sat on her knees between my legs.

Before I realized what was happening, her arms had come around me. Her chest laid against mine. She held me tightly, and I was entirely unsure of what to do before her breathing tickled my ear, and she whispered, "no more, please."

With my hands still in the ground, I first tried to pull away, but that only made her held me tighter and said, "Adam." As if my name had become a prayer, it circled inside me like feathers that scared me.

I grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away. Hurt was so evident in those golden eyes that I flinched as she let go of me and sat motionlessly between my legs.

I stared awkwardly, but I was so desperate to remove the sight of her grief from my view that I couldn't meet her eyes anymore and instead turned my head towards the campfire.

"I haven't lied to you," I said.

"I know what your semblance does," she said, and a tremor inside me forced me to meet her concerned eyes again. "I know what it really does, you don't have to hide it anymore."

"What does it do?" I asked breathlessly with desperation, praying to even the Keeper that she was wrong.

But rather than answer me, her fingers came to lay on my cheek. The warmth in them scared me so much, yet I couldn't pull away either; a craving kept me lock in place.

Her hand didn't stay still, her fingers danced in my skin and traveled downwards, avoiding my lips before touching my chin, they didn't stop as the tips traced my left jaw and then came to my neck before stopping.

Two of her fingers kept moving back and forth in a spot of my throat that tickled more than the rest.

"I gave you this scar." She said with dejected certainty. Air got caught down my lungs, and my body tensed with the increasing need to push her away as she continued, "You don't heal people, you take their wounds into your body. You hide them well, but I saw the scars… the ones in your arms, your chest… the bullet scar in your stomach."

My breath hitched the moment Blake placed her hand just where that scar laid, and I couldn't stop my thoughts from coming out of my lips, "you remember?"

Blake nodded.

The sorrow in her lips, the lonely tear falling down her cheek.

I pulled her into my arms, I held her neck tight against my shoulder as she embraced me back, her hand cradled the back of my head and her soft fingers traced between the strands of my hair burning down a path down my memory I was afraid to revisit.

"Is fine," I lied.

She held me tighter.

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* * *

**Atlas – Mantle – Schnee Company Warehouse**

The feeling had lodge itself so deeply inside my head that I couldn't ignore it any longer, but I still had trouble naming it. I had gone for the simpler terms at first, friendship, likeness. I even thought it could be that special word, but that word felt… Lacking.

The alarm blared on my ear, the smoke burnt inside my nose, and a man's blood dripped down the edge of my eager sword.

I sneered.

It would drink more.

The corridor was a wasted battleground where only the defeated now laid crumpled on the floor, bullets holes adorned the walls, and one of the ceiling lights was hanging by its cables.

The door at the end remained locked.

And a man too scared to even squeal like the pig he was laid underneath my shoe.

My blade high above him.

Its tip pointing at his throat.

"Adam!" Blake shouted from ahead, a pair of guards laid unconscious around her feet, and she had an ID card in her hands, but her eyes weren't on it nor on me. She was staring at the man beneath me. "We have to go."

Her words were tinted with a pleading tone. I sighed and rose my shoe off the man so that I could instead smash it on his head to knock him out, the guard didn't make any sounds.

I sheathed my sword and came toward Blake, she was frowning, and it bothered me enough that rather than walk past her I went to grab her hand.

She went to take it, but rather than just grasp my hand, Blake coiled her fingers around mines tightly. The grin I liked returned to her lips.

"We are running out of time, let's go." She said and tugged me toward the door.

I took a glance at the downed guards around us, all of them inside this corridor were still alive but at different stages of consciousness, and the only one still awake was sobbing at the other end holding onto the stump of the arm I had cut off.

I didn't like leaving with unfinished business.

Blake pulled my hand harder. "Adam."

I let her pull me away.

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* * *

**Menagerie – Eastern Deserts – Atlesian Manta**

I couldn't name it yet, but I thought that I was capable at least of describing it, it was a need for her presence, a want that only increased the closer she became. She steadied me like a pillar in a storm to which I held onto for dear life… like I was doing with the driving stick of that helicopter-wannabe.

It didn't matter who made the flying can: Mistralian, Atlesian. They were all deathtraps. I kept pulling onto the stick, hoping to keep the nose of the Manta up. But the flying vehicle didn't want to cooperate much with me.

Blake was strapped on the co-pilot seat, holding onto its edges like the terrified cat she was right now while fire kept eating away our ceiling. Her eyes were on it, and she wasn't paying attention to the horizon beyond the glass. "We only have half a ship left!" she shouted.

I knew the Manta was a lost cause, but the endless desert wasn't exactly the place I wanted to land, specially Menagerie's desert, even Grimm wouldn't want to try and challenge the things that were said to live here.

But at the edge of the horizon, was the mountains that separated the desert from the western coastline, if I could keep the nose of the bloody flying can up and keep it flying for a little more, we could be a day walk away from Kuo Kuana instead of having to risk setting camp.

A spark flickered on the controls ahead of me before a sound I couldn't recognize came out of it.

"Adam!" Blake shouted.

The controls exploded on my face, I hid behind my arm and felt the embers claw at my clothes, I jumped off the seat and Blake did too. She smashed her aura covered hands on my sleeve to put down the fire, but I didn't wait for it.

I grabbed her by the waist and hauled her to the sliding doors on the side of the Manta and jumped.

Hours later, after the scorching sun had given way to the freezing moon, I had one of those random yet useless memories from a lifelong past whisper in my ear.

It gave me a very appropriate quote for our current situation. Sitting here underneath a slab of rock that kept the cold gusts of the desert wind away. The rocky formation hid us from the worst part of the air, but it did nothing to stop the sand from harassing us.

"I don't like sand," I said as I tried again unsuccessfully to wipe it off the slits of my mask. "It's coarse, irritating, and it gets everywhere."

Blake glanced back at me. Without the means to make a fire, we could do nothing more than huddle together for warmth. I was sitting against the stone while Blake was in my arms with her back touching my chest.

"Let me help you." She twisted around until she was kneeling between my legs, her hands moved up, and our eyes met a second before I felt one of her fingers touch my mask.

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her hands away softly. "Don't touch it."

Eyes of melted gold waved in the dark, Blake moved her hands ever so slowly, carrying mines still attached to her wrists, her fingers loomed over my mask, but she didn't touch it. "I'm not afraid of you."

I clenched her arms slightly more, enough that I could lie to myself that it wasn't me who was shaking. "I can't show it to you," I stupidly said as if she had not seen behind the mask before, but I still couldn't, no, didn't want to.

"Why?"

I remained silent, only the wind stroking the rock above us sang with the waves of sand that danced outside our little hideout. Her golden eyes shone with a brightness that made me feel as if they were already staring right through the mask, and it only made my guts twist further inside me.

I couldn't look at them.

"I'm… I'm ashamed of what is behind the mask." I released her and let my hands fall on my lap, defeated. My eyes down with them.

I felt her fingers trace the edge of the mask, they started right over my nose before they spread to the sides, reaching the back and dislodging it from me. She pulled it off me but stopped when it was but a mere breath away.

Still hiding me.

"Adam," my name came out of her lips, the tone of her voice asking me to believe that it was so much more than a mere four letters.

I closed my eyes and nodded. I heard Blake's clothes move, my mask went away. Before, I knew it the tip of a single slender finger gingerly landed over the ridges that made up the Schnee brandmark over my left eye.

That finger traced the scars, I thought it would burn me, but it didn't. My skin held onto Blake's touch like it was water, and I shuddered under it.

"I'm not ashamed of this," she said, her finger traveling down the boundaries of the brandmark and down my cheek.

"And…" her words only a whisper by now. "I'm not ashamed of you."

Her finger left me, and I opened my eyes.

We were but a breath apart, riddled thoughts and conflicting minds keeping our words inside. Blake's mouth, the one that had said so many things, was but a little line in the dark.

I closed the distance.

My lips met hers.

Just a touch.

A caress.

I pulled away.

Our eyes met. Golden and blue, I didn't know what hers held. Our breathings so similar that they felt as if they were the same, I was enraptured with Blake's sight, her smell, her touch, her presence, I need it all.

"Never leave me," I begged breathlessly, clinging to her body like a lifeline.

A comforting smile came to her lips, a slight crease in Blake's eyes. Her arms wrapped around my neck, my hands landed on her lower back, I pulled her towards me. Feeling her skin on mine.

"Never… I promise," Blake said.

I kissed her again.

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* * *

**Anima – The City of Mistral – White Fang Throne Room**

**When I was eighteen…**

It was by thinking of the kind of relations I had with others that I became closer to an answer to my dilemma. Those that stood ahead gave me orders. Those behind me followed. I saw then that Blake had taken a place that I had never seen somebody else hold.

Beside me.

Hidden beneath the jaws of Mistral, buried deep inside its cobblestones, the throne room of the white fang was a monument that represented Sienna's belief of defiance through terror as if the words had been carved right in its walls.

Pulling one knee in the crimson tapestries, we bowed toward the High Leader. Sienna loomed over us, with one hand on her waist. There was one guard on the wine-colored royal uniform standing on each of the pillars at our sides with spears in their hands.

"You continue to be an extraordinary resource for this organization, Adam." Sienna turned away from Blake and me, she now faced her throne, and I couldn't see the expression on her face.

I bowed further when she glanced back. "Everything I do, I do it for the Faunus."

Sienna's hand waved toward the walls, and a giant man came from behind one of the pillars. I wondered how I had not noticed him before since he was almost as thick with muscles as the pillar itself had been. But what had me raising an eyebrow inside of my mask was seeing that he had another one that was quite different from those the lower ranks wore.

It was a full face, white mask with red streaks adorning the eyes that covered his face.

The man walked up to us, I could have sworn every step he made had the ground shaking, but that could be entirely my imagination.

"Stand," Sienna commanded with a gesture of her hand.

Blake and I stood up, I had the large masked man on the edge of my vision, but I kept my face straight towards Sienna to hide my curiosity. Blake didn't as she openly frowned at the man and tilted her head to one side or the other like a curious cat.

"Have either of you ever been to vale?" Sienna asked, retaking Blake's attention and making me frown with both a sense of apprehension and curiosity mixing inside me. I shook my head in denial as an answer while Blake didn't do anything.

"Vale…" Sienna began but interrupted herself with a scoff, Irritation had become evident in her features when she continued, "Vale has always been a hard wall to crack compared to the other kingdoms."

She turned around and walked a few steps away from us as she kept talking, "Unlike Atlas or Mistral. It doesn't have an active military, and its police force is strictly civilian-based. Yet Vale is home to Beacon, the largest of the four huntsmen academies."

Sienna glanced back at us, her golden eyes filled with fire, her tone of voice showcasing the frustration she felt. "Because of it, Vale is the kingdom with the largest force of active huntsmen, which have made our operations in the region… difficult."

The muscled man nodded and crossed his arms. The bow hiding Blake's cat ears, squashed against her head, and I felt the weight of Sienna's eyes and did my best to not flinch under them.

"I'm sending you to Vale," Sienna said, which almost made me gasp just like Blake did at the news that followed. "Adam, you are to assume control of the Vale branch and…" Sienna's hand waved at the muscled man, and he bowed his head. "This is Lieutenant Kerchak 'Bonesaw' King from the Vacuo branch, he will be acting as your second in command."

Blake flinched at that. "But-"

Sienna interrupted her with a smile that shut Blake's lips close. "Of course, Blake will remain as your partner, but lieutenant King will be in charge of helping administer the branch," Sienna said.

The lieutenant took a step toward me and saluted once and promptly offered me his large hand. "It is an honor to meet you, sir, I have worked extensively with Yuma and your elder sister Trifa in Vacuo. They speak well of you."

I accepted his handshake quietly, seeing as Sienna seemed to be waiting to say something more and not wanting to hear about my siblings, it had been years since we were sent to work at different edges of Remnant and although we kept contact through our scrolls sporadically. The distance was so much easier to bear when I didn't think about them at all.

"Leave us," Sienna commanded, and the lieutenant bowed his head toward her before walking away, the guards on the pillars did as well, but Blake hesitated at my side with a frown over her eyes.

I grasped her hand and brushed her palm with my thumb, her eyes sought mines under the mask, I smiled in what I hoped looked reassuringly. "I will meet you outside."

She nodded and squeezed my fingers in a way that made me wish I didn't let go as she followed the rest out of the massive doors.

The entrance closed with a resounding echo that did little to hide Sienna's commanding voice as it delivered a message that chilled my veins and drowned my lungs with vile, "Keep the Belladonna girl on a tight leash."

"Blake's loyalty to our cause matches mine, we will never betray the white fang," I stated too fast, knowing perfectly that my words had come out a little too forceful as I watched one of Sienna's brows rise to question my words.

"I once thought the same of her parents," Sienna stated with a sigh in her lips. "As long as the girl is loyal to my orders, her father will only put a token resistance against my rule. Even now, after five years since he stepped down from the role of High Leader, our people still sees him before me."

I wasn't comfortable with Sienna's attention on Blake, it made that feeling in the back of my head spread rapidly in my blood, burning down paths in my flesh that led to anger. "Blake would never betray me."

Sienna waved me off as she turned and began to walk to her throne, I understood that as a dismissal and went to exit the room when she suddenly called out my name, "Adam."

I stopped halfway into a step, I glanced at her only to find her looking at me with a prideful grin in her lips that I thought would have matched better in those of a proud mother. "If you continue along this path, you might just find yourself standing beside me at my throne."

I didn't know what to say to that.

I left and walked out of the massive doors. I found Blake leaning on the opposite wall as they closed behind me, concern shining in her eyes. I didn't like seeing that.

Three steps and I was pulling her by her waist against me, she groaned and said, "not in public." But she didn't fight me as I leaned down. Instead, she rose her lips to meet mines.

We kissed, our lips dancing until the need to breathe forced our mouths away, she rested her head on my chest, and I pulled her closer, needing her touch, craving it.

"Congratulations on the promotion," Blake said in a monotone voice. She didn't put any effort into trying to hide how much she didn't like it.

It finally clicked in my head, and I almost laughed out loud when the realization finally struck me. Blake had dug herself where only one had existed before in my life.

Helena had been… Home, that which I longed for the most, that dream that I still held onto even when I knew I would never have it.

Blake was similar… yet not the same, Blake was the one thing I could grasp.

She was…

"Adam?" Blake asked, her little ears twitching with curiosity.

And I smiled.

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**And that's the end!**

**I warned you before that romance would be a big piece of this story, I wasn't kidding. I know it may look like it was a bit quick, but that was intended. I have never really fond of slow burns romances, and I am not confident enough that I would be able to write a good one. **

**I much prefer the romance stories where we as readers get to experience the romantic relationship of the characters as it happens instead of going through the loops of "when are they gonna get together?" for 100k worth of the book. **

**Of course, their relationship won't be perfect, Blake is still herself and not fond of the white fang's agenda while Adam is very much a loyal follower… **

**I have a bit of an announcement, next chapter, log 10 will be the last episode of REwrite: Adam's Volume 1. I really hope you guys have enjoyed the story so far and I hope you will find the conclusion of Volume 1 satisfying ^^ **

**Now for the questions!**

**Last Chapter's Question: **** Which character from RWBY would you like to see more off in Volume 8?**

**Honestly, I'm hoping Raven appears and finally grows some guts and helps the gang, she is one of my favorite characters but so far she has been nothing but a brat, I'm hoping she gets redeemed and actually starts acting like the badass I know she could be. **

**Question of the Chapter: What's your favorite RWBY ship, and why?**

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**Volume 1**

**Sub-Log: Blake**

**Vale – Commercial District – Post Office**

It was hard to ignore the guilt in her gut, but she had to. Officially, she was here in Vale proper to infiltrate the police office on the train station for Adam's latest mission, but she couldn't be farther from there.

The post office was a very unassuming building lodge between two others right in the middle of an unimportant street Blake didn't know the name of. The small sign over the glass door with the logo of a delivery box wasn't handy either in making it a recognizable landmark of the city.

Blake came into the storefront to find only a couple of booths with workers, even fewer of them were occupied already with customers. She scanned the place and found one to the corner where she would feel more comfortable and went to that one.

The woman on the other side of the booth smiled at Blake before asking, "How can I help you this afternoon?"

"I… I'm…" Blake took a deep breath to erase her nerves before she continued with determination in her eyes that only lasted for a few words, "I'm here to pick up a package?"

She hated how her statement came out as a question, her nerves were rattling inside her and forced her to hold onto her own arms for a warmth she dearly missed.

The truth is that asking wasn't the wrong thing to do. Blake wasn't actually sure if anything was waiting for her to begin with, for all she knew, she was alone with her problems.

The worker didn't seem to notice or just didn't care about Blake's hesitation as the woman responded with that fake happy tone that every clerk in any government establishment used like if they were robots, "may I have your scroll for identification porpuses?"

Blake brought her scroll out, and the woman took it from her with both hands and a courteous bow of her head before inserting it into a slot on the booth table.

"Blake Belladonna?" The woman asked.

"Yes," Blake nodded, clenching her fingers further into her own arms in anticipation.

Would the woman tell her there was nothing for her? Blake expected it, so many years with no contact and with the way she had left. No wonder her parents hated her and would have disowned her by now, they probably didn't even-

"We do have a package for you, Miss Belladonna." The woman's words didn't feel real, and Blake could do nothing more than stare dumbfounded with her lips slightly partner in surprise. "Please wait here while I retrieve it from the back," the woman said and promptly left.

When Blake went out of the post office five minutes later, the weight of the carton bag between her arms almost had her in tears.

She went away to the entrance of a nearby alley to avoid been bothered by the many pedestrians still walking the street as the sun began to dwindle in the sky. She didn't dare open the bag and see its content until the shadows of the walls hid her from the light.

There were two sealed folder documents in it and a sealed card, which she took to inspect it.

Seeing the pair of signatures written over the card, finding the cursive letters of her mother, and the more scratchy ones of her father forced a sob out of her lips, Blake wanted to read it but would hold to do that after all was done.

She put it back in the bag and instead took one of the folders and broke its paper seal, holding it close to see if they had sent her what she had begged for.

Just reading the beginning of the first few papers was enough.

Her parents had done it. It was hard to believe, but the proof was in her hands. She read through a random paper a little bit more before something jagged at her mind, and she glanced back into the bag.

What was the other folder for?

She took that one and broke its seal as well to read its content.

She frowned, unsure at first as to why her parents would have done this. But her mind quickly caught up to it, something in her heart flared up, a fire, a hope that she had long tried to kill.

With this… with this, Blake could…

No, the chances were slim.

But there was a chance and if she-

No, it was too dangerous.

Even with the danger, Blake could talk to him-

No, it was too late.

But he was worth trying-

Was he?

But then, why send this? Could Blake try? Gamble it all for one chance at fulfilling that promise she said to herself when she decided on this path for her life?

Could she save him?

One of her fingers traced her bottom lip before she knew it, Blake felt an itchy sensation over that phantom scar that should have been in her belly but wasn't there at all.

She shook those thoughts out of her mind.

It was too dangerous.

It was too late…

Blake put everything back in the bag and walked away, she had wasted too much time and needed to get back to the camp and prepare for the mission.

And prepare to say goodbye.


	10. Log 10: On Crimson Leaves, We Wilt

**Warning: ****This work is rated T for a reason; there is Violence, Blood, Angst, and the mention of serious topics like racism and mental illness that merit this rating. This work of Fanfiction will never have any material that would send it over the edge to an M rating like Lemons or highly descriptive scenes of violence.**

**Salutations everybody!**

**Before we go into the chapter I would like to ask you for a second of your time, I know how boring it is to read the author's notes, but I just want to say something. **

**Thank you. **

**REwrite: Adam just reached 200 favorites before this chapter, and it is very humbling to know so many people enjoy my work. I'm but a simple high schooler that is usually to shy to even talk in public. I'm very thankful to everyone that has given my work a chance. **

**Without further ado, here is chapter 10, the finale of Volume 1. **

**And as always, I do not own RWBY!**

**Enjoy!**

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**Volume 1**

**A Poem Fit For Tragedy**

_You say that you love me_

_You say that you cherish me_

_And so that's why_

_You have to go_

_I say, don't love me_

_Hate me if you need to_

_But never let go_

_Don't leave me behind_

_I don't care what been happy means_

_If it isn't with you_

_I don't care to be weak_

_If it makes you strong_

_Our love may be sick_

_Rotten and wrong_

_But it is mine_

_And your's alone_

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**Volume 1**

**Log 10: On Crimson Leaves, We Wilt**

**Vale – Forever Fall Forest – White Fang Camp**

A storm was coming.

It was brewing on the horizon, bringing ill intent to our territory. My issue, however, was not that it was coming, neither what it was, my worries were in the why.

"Why would somebody need so much dust?" I asked rhetorically to nobody.

Yet I still got an answer, not the one that would solve my issues, though. "Sir?" said lieutenant King. I waved his concern off and kept staring at the large map of Remnant that was hanging from the wall of the main tent of our camp.

Stapled to a corner of the map was a smaller one of the city of Vale, there were five circled marks in different spots of it, and I picked up a pen to circle a sixth one where another dust shop had been hit last night.

Six dust robberies in the last month, no money had been stolen, and no workers injured either. None of the shops had any connection other than in what they traded. I hated that I couldn't grasp the plan of whoever was behind this, nor could I find any reliable information since Tukson, our smuggling and information specialist, had betrayed… I mean, left the White Fang peacefully not long ago.

Was it a power grab by one of the underworld gangs of Vale? A planned attempt to raise up the dust prices in the kingdom? I couldn't grasp what whoever was behind it was after, and that bothered me.

But it didn't bother me enough not to take advantage of the situation.

"Is Blake back?" I asked lieutenant King, and he shook his head in denial from where he stood at the entrance of the tent with his arms crossed. It wasn't normal for Blake to take longer than expected for what was nothing more than a scouting mission, and that also nagged me on the back of my head.

So many little annoyances coming at the same time, piling up. I sighed and grabbed a random report from the table that sat at the center of the room where my sword also laid, hoping reading would take the edge of my mind.

The night was quiet outside. These parts of the permanently crimson forest of Forever Fall were far away enough from Vale that there was no risk of being found out by the authorities, had not been from the Grimm forcing us to move our campsite every other week, it could be said that we were in a safe and well-hidden place where we wouldn't be found.

The flaps of the tent's entrance fluttered as someone pulled them open, I wasn't interested in seeing who had come to give a report and I already knew it wasn't Blake or she would have called me.

"Who are you!" lieutenant King demanded, startling me into action, the paper fluttered off my grip. I turned and plucked my sheath from the table.

A fair-skinned, young-looking woman I couldn't recognize stood at the entrance, she had short black hair covering her left eye and wore a red mini-dress with golden accents on its sleeves. She also wore a pair of stilettos more appropriate for a gala than the middle of the forest.

Behind her came two more that looked much younger, a girl and a boy that were probably between my age and Blake's, the girl was dark-skinned, had red eyes and, mint-green hair. The boy was much paler with grayish hair and a smug smirk on his face.

But what had me on edge as they came further into my tent was the apparent lack of any animal traits in any of them.

Three humans had infiltrated my camp.

I clenched my scabbard harder but kept my calm. I wasn't happy about this situation, but these humans obviously wished to say something in a civilize form if they had not come in guns blazing.

Lieutenant King, on the other hand, had his fist up and was slowly walking toward them, he was a towering menace of pure Gorilla Faunus muscle that would have intimidated even the most veteran of Huntsmen, yet the woman didn't even glance at him as he shouted, "Identity yourself or I will kill you where you stand!"

I rose my palm at him to calm him down. King saw me, and after one last show of dislike by blowing hot air out of his nose from behind his mask, he came to stand beside me with his arm crossed and his muscles tensed, like a loyal bodyguard would have.

I waited for the human woman to say anything, but other than smile and holding her hands together over her stomach as if she were imitating some sort of nun, she didn't seem keen on starting whatever this was.

King's loud voice had attracted the guards that should have spotted this woman before she could have infiltrated our camp. One Faunus with a machine gun and another with a sword opened the flaps of the tent, and they seemed surprised to find the humans inside, they both looked at me, and after I nodded, they came in and stood on the entrance keeping it close.

The woman remained silent.

I knew a powerplay when I saw it.

And I didn't care to play.

"Talk," I demanded.

The woman glanced at the girl behind her. Her two minions kneeled respectfully before she spoke with a voice so sweet and fake that had the hairs in my arms turning into knots. "My name is Cinder Falls, and these are my associates."

She gestured with her hands, waving them to the sides before she bowed her head ever so slightly while she kept talking, "I have heard many things about you, and I seek an audience."

The irony of her already been here didn't escape me. "And why is that?"

"I have a working proposition, one that, you will see it will certainly benefit us both greatly…" Cinder gave me another one of her sultry smiles. I was starting to piece together what this was all about, but I didn't interrupt yet, and she kept talking "…of course, I understand you wouldn't move on empty promises, and that is why we are willing to reward you handsomely with-"

"So, let me get this straight." I finally decided to stop her. The girl kneeling in the ground, bared her teeth at me, offended that I dared disturb her master's rambling, but I didn't care.

I didn't have the patience to waste my time hearing a lowly human criminal talk about her fantastic plan to take advantage of the dust problem when I was already planning on doing that on my own.

"You could have gone to anyone for help," I said as I began to pace side to side just to expend some energy and calm myself down. "You could have made a deal with a gang leader, paid off some huntsman that had strayed from their… righteous path, but instead, you choose to seek an 'audience' with me?"

I stopped walking as I sarcastically spat those last words at her, hoping she would understand with that and leave. A whisper in the back of my head told me to kill them, but I couldn't come up with any excuse to do so.

I couldn't say it was for the camp's security when we were already planning on moving in the morning, and Blake was bound to arrive any second, which meant I couldn't risk trying to dispose of them and hide the fact before she came.

I didn't like the idea of leaving three individuals that could walk right through our defenses as if we didn't have any.

But I didn't want another fight with Blake either.

Sadly, for me, Cinder didn't give up. "You are the one we need," she said, her seductress act doing nothing to help her cause as it only irritated me more. "Your skills… Your ability to lead those beneath you. You're an exceptionally valuable man, Adam, and we've put a lot of thought into-"

"Then you are clearly not thinking straight!" I shook my hand and waved a finger at her. "If you truly understood me, then you would know that coming here was a mistake."

I took a step forward and did nothing to mask the anger in my words, "we are not mercenaries you can buy off. We are part of a revolution, one you seemed to have forgotten is against your kind."

Cinder's minions caught my attention as they looked at each other, from where I was, I couldn't see the boy's face, but the girl frowned. The grip in my sheath tightened, and I hoped for an instant that they would be foolish enough to attack us.

"I believe…" Cinder kept on coming. "Our plan will be beneficial for all parties involved."

I sighed and turn to give her my back, my eyes retracing the map. It didn't seem the woman would give up at all.

Cinder continued when she saw I wasn't protesting. "I have… an associate in Vale, he and I are working on a revolution of our own. But we can't do it without your forces, we need-"

"What you need is to leave." I pulled up my scabbard above the table and into her view to emphasize my point. Cinder trying to use my own words had only made me lose what was left of my short patience for the human. "You want me to ask my men to die for your cause, a human cause?"

Cinder seemed like she wanted to say something more, her lips opened, but I shut her up before she said a thing by grasping the hilt of my sword, which also made the guards and lieutenant King move as if a brawl were to start.

"That is not an idea I am willing to entertain," I said.

Cinder finally understood the message. The smile vanished from her mouth, her lips turned into a thin line, and she closed her eyes for a second, then opened them and bowed. "Very well."

She went to leave, and I nodded at King with a silent command. He walked away from his spot and went around the humans and out of the tent.

He escorted the trio out together with the guards. After the last guard went out, and the flaps of the tent fell close behind him, I started towards the entrance myself.

I didn't have much of a plan of what to do now after… whatever that was, but it didn't feel right either to stay locked up in here when I wouldn't do more than glare at the map. I came to the entrance and grasped the leathery tent flap to open it.

Maybe I could give a stern talk to the guards for letting trespasser come into our camp so easily and also do a…

Blake was here.

"Adam?" when I opened the flap, she was there, her bright golden eyes filled with surprise that disappeared almost instantly as she took a step back. I breached the gap between us and pushed a lock of her hair back behind her ear.

"Who are they?" Blake asked. She twisted her face towards the outskirts of the camp fast enough that I had to pull my hand away in fear of scratching her by accident. I followed her point of view to steal one last glance at Cinder and her minions before they disappeared through the red bushes.

"No one important," I said dismissively, Blake tended to overthink things, and I didn't want to bother her when there were more important things to discuss, "What did you found?"

She frowned and kept looking toward the trees. "I couldn't find anything new, the police didn't have more info, but the train is coming on schedule."

The monotony of Blake's voice sounded just like when she was angry or worried, and I didn't like it, I grasped her shoulder and squeezed it. "Good enough. Take a rest, and then finish preparing. The train will be here at dawn."

Blake's fingers landed above my hand, I squeezed her shoulder again soothingly, and she did the same to my hand before she walked away without saying a word. A frown formed over my eyes as I watched her go.

I sighed, my hand going up to brush my red hair back. Maybe I was overworking Blake. She was the best soldier I had, and the only one I wholeheartedly trusted even above my lieutenant. After this mission, I would try to find an excuse to leave lieutenant King in charge for a couple of days and take Blake to the city and get her mind away from work, she always said she liked when it was just the two of us.

I will make it up to her.

* * *

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* * *

**Vale – Forever Fall Forest – Cliffside**

A train whistle echoed against the bark of the trees behind me. The ever-crimson forest danced with the breeze and leaves like rose petals fluttered in the air giving the world a surreal and almost magical atmosphere.

The tracks down below were still empty, and although I could already hear the train's whistle when it came, the thing hasn't appeared on the horizon. It shouldn't be more than four minutes before the train arrived with how it sounded.

My blade, Wilt, and its scabbard, Blush, were ready in my hand. I turned away from the cliff and walked into the thick bushes of the forest.

The early dawn brought with it a cold fog that was too thin to permeate the air but thick enough that it stayed in the ground like the ghost of a carpet. Each step I took in the crimson grass disturbed the fog.

I went past a last pair of bushes to a clear, in the middle of it, rested a stone that rose from the fog like an island on the sea, a few blades of red grass danced on the shores of the rock formation, and sitting atop it was Blake.

It was the views in times like this that made it hard to breathe.

Blake was not facing me, her face looked upwards as she observed the morning sky where the broken moon still shined in, her hair swayed in the wind that carried crimson leaves that only made me wish to stand there and appreciate what I saw.

She was beautiful.

"Blake," I called, I did nothing to hide how much I enjoyed letting her name come out of my lips. "It's time."

She exhaled. Blake seemed to hesitate before she nodded and glanced toward me. "Okay…" her tone of voice had sounded almost like a whimper and worried me.

She hopped off the stone and walked toward me. She came to my side and seemed like she was going to continue walking past me, but I have had enough.

I grabbed her wrist and stopped her, she flinched as if trying to get away for a moment before she controlled herself and stopped, which only made me scowl further underneath my mask. "What's wrong?" I asked.

Blake tried pulling her arm off my grip, but I held her tightly enough to not lose my grasp without hurting her. After she understood I wouldn't budge, she said in an angry tone, "We don't have time for this."

Her eyes were avoiding me, Blake was tense enough that she was slightly shaking. I wasn't sure what was wrong, but I knew one thing for sure.

She was not fit for work.

"We are going back to camp," I said.

"Uh?!" she shouted. I ignored her and pulled her further away and back toward our base. I didn't take more than two steps before she fought me again, stopping us in our tracks and finally looking at me with so many emotions running up her face that I couldn't grasp which one was the right one.

She shook her arm again, and this time, I let her go, "What about the mission?" she said with panic evident in her words that only added to my own.

"You are clearly not fit for duty right now," I stated, taking a step closer to her only for her to take one back.

She wouldn't look at me, her eyes kept running away from mines, but the anger in her voice didn't, "You don't get to say if I am ready or not. This mission is important, you said it yourself, so let's go!"

She turned back towards the cliff, but I took advantage of her distraction to reach her and grasp her by her shoulders. Blake gasped as I turned her around to face me, and I felt her feet as they tried to move away, but I kept her in place.

Frustration, anger, irritation.

Care, worry, fear.

A cocktail of emotions exploding in her eyes that stole away my calm.

"Not more important than you!" I shouted in her face, startling her to the point that she stopped struggling. Blake turned to stone in my hands, she seemed afraid, and that threw a bucket of ice back into the furnace inside me, I sighed and pulled her further until she was pressed against me and my arms around her.

She didn't move or return the embrace, but I still pressed my lips against her hair before I pulled her away, letting her go. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have shouted," I whispered to her.

"Is… is fine," she said in what was obviously a lousy lie as her eyes wouldn't meet me yet. She took a step away from me and said, "But we have to go, or the train will leave."

"Blake, what's wrong?" I begged her again.

"Nothing."

"You are clearly distracted and anxious about something, I won't gamble your life over some worthless dust. This is a mission of opportunity, Blake, not one we need."

Finally, her golden eyes came to mine. Surprise and a glint of hope sparkled inside of them as if she couldn't believe me, her mouth opened as if to say something, then closed into a thin line.

Blake had always preferred to showcase her emotions with subtle words in private and emotional support. I instead was the one that preferred to showcase it with touch, I knew Blake enjoyed it, but it was a rare thing for her to initiate contact.

Which had me dumbfounded when she threw herself at me, making me take a step back to avoid falling. Blake held me tight enough to pop a couple of my bones, I grunted in surprise but didn't say more as her arms slithered around my stomach, and her face lodged in my chest.

I embraced her back, holding her against me and resting my chin over her head. I breathed and enjoyed myself in the scent of orange that was so unmistakably hers.

She pulled away from me enough that our eyes couldn't hide anything from each other. There was a need inside hers. A desperate cry glistening in those tears hanging over the melted gold in her eyes. "Adam?"

"Tell me."

"Do you trust me?" The question trembled out of her lips.

"With my life."

Blake rested her face underneath my neck, I felt her breathing in my skin, and I kissed her hair which seemed to help calm her down. She then said, "If I asked you to do something, to do something with me that goes against everything you believe, but I told you its… is for us. To save us both… Would you follow me?" The last question came in a whisper filled with dread, a plea that made me held her tighter in hopes of making her feel safer.

But her words, what she asked.

"Yes."

Her arms went over my head, and she pulled me down for our lips to meet. Blake kissed me with need. Her hands pulling fistfuls of my hair as she dragged me down desperately. I pressed my tongue against her lips, and Blake allowed me inside her mouth, I relished in her taste as she took from me as much as she gave, both of us craving more of the other's presence, and an unbearable need taking over my mind.

When our lungs demanded we separate. Blake rested her cheek against mine, her nose hiding in my shoulder while I leaned my face against her head and kept her body firmly in my arms.

"Are you okay?" I asked her and felt her nod against me.

"Let's do this mission, Adam," she said breathlessly. "And after… after this mission. I will tell you everything."

I nodded against her, much like she had done.

And hoped that by the end of the mission, I could really mean that 'yes' I gave her.

* * *

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* * *

**Vale – Forever Fall Forest – Schnee Cargo Train**

I landed over the roof of the dark train's last car, impaling my sword into the metal roof. The wind whipping at my face making me thankful for my mask, Blake landed next to me on one knee and stood up with a hand over her shoulder, holding onto the hilt of her sword.

We shared a look, a nod, and we ran.

Jumping through the scales of the dark snake, the first three cars had no openings we could use, but the fourth had a hatch locked only by a chain and a small lock that rattled to the demands of the air.

I stabbed my sword right between two pieces of the chain and twisted it, breaking the fragile thing which then flew away as it was carried by the wind. I kneeled and sheathed my sword. I pulled the hatch open for Blake to jump in and went after her.

We landed in utter darkness.

Or so I thought.

The crimson visors of dozens of droids sparked to life from all around us, and I clicked my tongue. "Looks like we're going to be doing this the hard way."

Blake chuckled. "Don't be so dramatic."

I wished I could enjoy the fact that her sarcasm was back, but one of the droids pointed his guns at us as the rest surrounded us from all sides.

I aimed Blush at the droid, but the machine didn't seem bothered by it. "Intruders. Identify yourselves."

I pulled the trigger.

The hilt of my sword smashed the droid's head before it ricocheted back to me, I caught it and swiped to the right slicing off the heads of three others while I fired with my scabbard at a fourth.

A droid fired at Blake only for the bullets to pass harmlessly through her clone and blast those behind it, the useless machine tried to pinpoint her location but soon found its head flying in the air, and Blake moving behind toward her next victim.

We carved our way through the car and out the next, I blasted the doors open with half the body of a broken droid to find the next one riddled with more of them aiming at us.

We reached the end of the car, leaving behind nothing more than broken scraps of metal and bullet holes.

The next one was much the same, droids with sword hands came at us as we went into the fray. I cut the head off the first one, jumped on its body, and kicked the head as it fell, which flew right into another one before I landed crouched between two more, and I sawed them in half while I aimed Blush at the back of a droid jumping at Blake.

She kept dancing around them cutting robotic limbs here and there, another droid tried to stab her, but one of her clones took her place, and she instead leaped over the droid and impaled its head with her sword, plucked it out and then sent it like a projectile at another one that had been aimed at me.

Blake kicked the next door open, and we came into a larger car with no enemies on sight. Instead, it was filled to the brim with stacked towers of metal boxes with the Schnee company logo printed on their sides.

I jogged to the nearest one and pried it open.

The light of the yellow dust crystals painted me with its radiance, the container was packed with them.

I nodded. "Perfect."

I let the box's hatch fall close as Blake walked up to me. "Move to the next car," I said while I pulled one of the small coin-sized bombs I had brought. "I will set the charges."

Had any criminal of Vale dared attack a Schnee train as heavily armed as this one they would have done it for the money, they would have hoped to steal all the precious cargo on it.

But we didn't want it.

The dust mined by Faunus' blood would not be used.

It would burn.

"What about the crew members?" Blake suddenly asked, making me arch an eyebrow at that question.

"What about them?"

Before she could say more something fell from the ceiling right behind us, the car shook hard enough to take my feet off the ground, and I turned when my eyes caught the flashing light of an energy fireball coming out way.

"Adam!" Blake shouted.

I pulled up my sword halfway out of the scabbard and parried the shot, but it exploded on contact and threw me back.

I flew across the car turning in the air once before I landed on a knee and a hand, my Sheathed sword tightly held in my other.

On the other side of the car stood a droid whose model I have never seen before, the size of a small truck and moving on four spider-like legs. The droid had an insect-like abdomen with a pair of energy cannons on its arms, and another pair mounted on the shoulders, bright red lines shined throughout its whole body as white energy gathered on its weapons to fire another salvo.

Blake was rushing towards it when it fired again. She dodged one before jumping over another and then rolling in the ground as the rest flew overhead.

She leaped in the air at the end of the roll, ready to impale the spider droid's head with both her swords.

But as her swords smashed against its armor, they did nothing more than bounce of it. "What?" she said, but then the spider droid's arm came up and smacked her, smashing her into the ground.

I aimed at the machine with Blush and fired twice, hoping to gain its attention, my bullets ricocheted harmlessly off its armor, but I got the results I wanted.

Its head looked at me, and I grinned.

Energy gathered on its weapons, and it fired at me. I ran to the side to dodge and then charged toward the droid.

Light gathered again on its cannons, ready to fire.

"Now!" I shouted, and Blake appeared on top of its left shoulder cannon, switched her sword into pistol mode and unloaded her whole cartridge at the gun, the bullets didn't seem to have any effect even when the thing was charging, and Blake hopped off it before it shot.

I dodged the next barrage and got close to its leg, the droid tried to smash me with its arm, but I went around it and sheathed my sword.

I pulled the trigger.

Its other arm came to the edge of my vision as I prepared to attack.

It was too late for me to dodge.

I didn't need to.

Blake jumped in the way.

An ice clone materialized and took the hit in the same moment I unsheathed Wilt on a diagonal cut, fire licking the edge of my sword as it neared the droid.

I smiled.

It was over.

It wasn't.

I was left shocked. My sword smashed harmlessly against the spider's armor, and the fire disappeared instantaneously with the impact of the sword resonating back through my arm with enough strength to make me lose my grip.

Before I knew it, its mechanical leg took over my eyes.

Pain flared all over me as I was thrown away like a ragdoll. I flew in the air and had a hard time correcting myself as I crashed on my back and then bounced off the ground and into my hands and knees.

I groaned and got up, my aura had taken the brunt out of that hit, but I was still slightly disoriented and had to look around to get my bearings.

Blake was trying to slice the droid's leg, while I searched the train car with my eyes for any signs of my sword. I saw it stuck to the ground near Blake and I charged toward her and the droid.

"Blake!" I shouted, and she glanced back and caught sight of my blade.

She dodged the droid's leg with a pirouette as it crashed where she had been standing, she came to my sword, plucked it out of the floor and threw it in my direction with its blade pointing at me.

I aimed Blush at it, and Wilt arrived back in its scabbard, I took my sword's hilt and prepared to attack again when suddenly the red portions of the spider droid's armor flared enough to make Blake cry as it blinded her, the mask held off the worse of it from me, but it left me stunned, and I couldn't dodge the thing's leg. It swiped me off the ground and into a pile of boxes.

I landed with a grunt, and my teeth biting my tongue. My body cried over the bent metal containers, but I couldn't wait.

Blake was between the droid's legs, blinded as she covered her eyes with one hand still holding onto her smaller sword.

I rushed at her.

The droid rose its leg.

So close, yet so far away.

The claw-like leg fell.

"Blake!"

I scoop her off the ground an instant before the droid smashed a hole on the floor. Blake still had her eyes squeezed shut, but she twisted her arms around my neck and held onto her swords.

"We can't fight it in a closed space," she said.

The spider droid was between us and the previous car we had been in, there wasn't any cover in here other than the volatile dust boxes.

I went toward the door to the next one. Holding onto Blake as I shoulder tackled my way out of the door and into the bright sun.

I had to blink a couple of times before I realized we had reached an open car without a roof, there were some boxes strapped to the floor here and there, but the car was mostly empty with only the wind and the view of the Forever Fall forest surrounding us.

I didn't have much time to enjoy it as the wall behind me flashed bright red with steam coming off the metal, and I jumped away from it before it exploded.

The spider droid came out.

"Put me down," Blake ordered. I glanced at her, and her eyes met mines.

We stood side by side at the center of the open car, with our swords ready while the spider droid was crawling its way between the train cars.

"Any ideas?" Blake asked.

"One," I said, and she frowned at me, already knowing what I was planning. "Buy me some time."

"Are you sure?" she asked with worry tinting her words, but we didn't have time for second-guessing.

"Do it!"

Blake charged at the spider droid, dodging its volley but not getting near as she instead switched her sword into pistol mode and fired at it to distract it.

I bent my knees, the hand on my scabbard ready, the finger on the trigger.

My other hand clenched tightly on Wilt's hilt.

I took a deep breath.

Blake dodged the droid's leg as it smashed the floor, and she sliced at it before running away to fire at the spider droid from a distance.

I pulled the trigger.

Wilt tried to shoot out of Blush, but I held my sword in place, fire lapped at my hand as it escaped from the gap between the scabbard and the sword.

Blake's clone disintegrated under the spider droid's volley. She leaped over its head and smashed her swords at it, the spider rose one of its arms to try and swat her out, but Blake disappeared, leaving another clone in her stead.

I pulled the trigger.

Flames exploded in my grip, a blazing inferno making Wilt shake as it tried to come out of the scabbard.

Blake swept underneath the droid's legs, slashing at them as it failed to catch her, one of its legs rose from the ground to attack her, but Blake leaped on top of it before it could and jumped, flying over the droid and firing at its head.

I pulled the trigger.

Jets of fire burst at my arm from the gaps as both Wilt and Blush trembled in my fists, the flames danced around me, a red circle forming underneath my feet.

The spider droid caught up to Blake and bashed her away with one of its arms, Blake landed safely on her feet and flipped backward on her hands three times as she came near me.

Wilt's burning blaze created a whistling sound like the screams of the dying that caught the droid's attention.

Suddenly its shoulder cannons moved forward and connected with its arms before it all turned into a giant barrel almost as long as the droid itself.

The droid charged its new weapon.

A light consumed our vision of it.

"Move!" I shouted, and Blake threw me an anxious glance before she ran behind me.

The light at the end of the droid's barrel became blinding.

The fire of my sword threatened to get out of control.

The train trembled underneath us.

It was now or never.

A strike to finish the fight.

Machine against a bull.

The power of the Schnee, tyranny, the pride of the rich and fat, flaring up the end of their barrel.

The spite, defiance, fury of wild starved animals pinned against the wall of oppression coming through the fires.

The droid shot.

From its merged cannons came a white beam of sheer destructive power that raced through the car, ripping its floor apart without even touching the metal as it devastated existence in its wake.

I pulled the trigger.

And I let go.

The world became two.

The fire turned into an extension of my blade, sharper than death; it kissed the world and burned it away around me. The blazing sword cut through the laser beam and swallowed it to feed its rage as it crashed against the side of the spider droid and sliced it in half.

Both halves were consumed by the embers that turned it all into nothing but ash.

Around me, everything had become nothing but ashes that were taken away by the wind. Only the burned shadows of what once been there were left as blackened markings on the floor.

I sheathed my sword with a trembling arm before I allowed myself to let go of the breath I had been holding. My aura broke apart, shattering beneath me. I had spent everything I had containing the flames until I could use them, and I was tired.

But I wasn't out of the fight.

Now that the greatest threat was over, we could finish the mission. I turned around to catch up with Blake.

Something was wrong.

She was standing just beyond the next roofless car… She should have kept going forward, and it made me hesitate and stop at the edge between the cars instead of following her… was she waiting for me?

Her face was downcast, Blake's hair covered her eyes and hid them from me. Blake's bow was crumpled as if her ears wanted to burrow underneath her skull.

"What about the crew members?" She asked, her voice dejected and sounding so defeated that it hurt to hear it.

"Blake?" I took a step forward, but I didn't know why I couldn't make the almost non-existent jump between the cars to her, I felt as if she would splinter and disappear if I dared to disturb her.

Her eyes finally came up to look at me, they glistened with salt and tears already marred lines coming down her face. "What. About. The crew members?" She repeated, every word slipping out with more pain in her tone.

"Why are you so worked up about them?" I asked instead, having to raise my voice so that the whipping gust wouldn't take it away. "The explosives will take care of them and everything else."

"Who are you?" She gasped, horrified, a hand coming close to her lips as the words left. She seemed just as startled by what she had said as I felt about those words.

But like the first trickles of water on the scars of a breaking dam, those words tore more out of her mouth, "don't you see what they have turned you into?" she said.

"They?" I asked, and she all but shouted a response that had my lungs clench painfully inside me, lighting struck my bones and melted them shut, leaving me paralyzed.

"The White Fang!" Blake shouted.

I couldn't move.

Blake could.

She offered me her hand from the other car, an abyss separating us that grew larger with every rail that the train left behind.

"Leave with me," Blake said, her words becoming pleas that were so soft the wind threatened to take them away from me.

I held for dear life to every bit of her voice…

And I drenched it with blood.

"Leave?" I asked harshly, spitting the word like an insult that made her flinch a step back, but I couldn't stop, "do you want me to just abandon our cause and betray everything we have fought for? Everything you and I built?"

"We haven't built anything!" Blake shouted between the tears that poured down her face and even into her lips. "This is not the White Fang we fought for, this one only destroys and kills people!"

"Yes, we kill humans!" I responded with pride.

I thought I had known Blake. I thought she understood, but what was this whiny kid in front of me? Anger boiled in my veins like melted rocks, so painfully slow, stewing me from the inside out.

Blake was breathing hard, taking lungfuls of air between each sob as she hugged herself, I more than expected her to not look at me in shame of the stupidity she was spewing but rather than that, Blake did something that irritated me more.

She held my eyes, a mixture of both defiance and pity in them.

"Where is my Adam?" Blake suddenly asked. She took a step forward with a frown replacing her sadness even though the tears kept coming. "The one that didn't feel like a hero because he killed a man? The one that cared more about saving and protecting others than about hurting the world?"

"I was weak back then. The White Fang made me strong."

Blake's tear ceased to fall, she took one more gulp of air that seemed to calm her. She looked defeated, her shoulder sagged, her lips curled downwards, and that defiance and pity in her eyes came forth as she looked at me from the other side of the world.

"No… they just turned you into a monster, and I don't want anything to do with this new Adam."

Traitor.

Liar.

You promised, Blake, you promised to never leave, you liar, traitor, traitor, liar, liar, traitor. I won't let you go, never let you go, Blake was mine, mine.

Blood burning in my veins.

Muscles tensing in my hand.

Tongue bleeding between my teeth.

Traitor on my eyes.

Liar to my ears.

Those golden eyes, so beautiful yet filled with contempt, I hated them, I craved them. I wanted them gone, I wanted them forever in my hold. Blake was mine, mine, mine, mine, mine.

Fingers around Wilt's hilt, hatred screaming in my ear, pain in the back of my head.

"No!" The word came out as a curse from my mouth, my body moving on its command, my hatred filling it with demands that needed to be quenched.

My blade flew, the scabbard in my hand. The edge dipped in red, and I enjoyed the satisfying feeling of the sword biting through flesh. Traitor flesh, Liar flesh.

Flesh, it ate my blade with joy.

My rage was quenched, consumed by my blade and then, then. I then saw…

Blake's golden eyes stared at me in horror as they flew away. Her body remained still like a statue, unaware of what was wrong.

Unaware that Blake's head was not attached to it anymore.

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_**And so with apparent tragedy, the story begins to be REwritten…**_

**_Volume 1: Prologue to Tragedy… _**

**_Has ended._**

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**As many of you have noticed so far, the story had not really changed much from canon, many things happened differently, but it all came to the same conclusion: The Black Trailer… but this is no more. Volume 2 will bring drastic changes to RWBY as the butterflies that Adam has planted are finally reap. **

**I'm quite sure that most of you want to kill me and behead me after reading that ending, but I will beg of you to at least give me a chance and wait to execute me after you read the first chapter of volume 2, please. **

**Now talking about Volume 2. One thing I like to do before I start writing is to plan out in an excel spreadsheet everything necessary I want to do in a season/volume. Which means it takes me a little before I start actually writing the chapters. I promise I will try to get the first chapter of Volume 2 fast, but there may be a wait then between that one and the following ones. **

**But I don't want to leave you with only promises, so here is the title of REwrite: Adam Volume 2.**

**Volume 2: A Crimson Beacon's Light.**

**See you guys soon!**


	11. Log 11: Who Are You

**Warning: ****This work is rated T for a reason; there is Violence, Blood, Angst, and the mention of serious topics like racism and mental illness that merit this rating. This work of Fanfiction will never have any material that would send it over the edge to an M rating like Lemons or highly descriptive scenes of violence.**

**Well, I somehow made it. Chapter 11, the first episode of Volume 2, is here!**

**fair warning, this chapter may have more grammar issues than normal.**

**Hopefully, you will still like it ^^**

**Oh, and remember that I do not own RWBY**

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**Volume 2**

**Log 11: Who Are You**

**Anima – The City of Mistral – White Fang Throne Room**

Thump.

Came the boot.

Thump.

Echoed the step.

Thump.

The dying light of the torches crying away.

Thump.

He was here.

Sienna had stared death in the eye more than once, on every occasion she had snarled at it and denied the creature its prize. Fear was a weapon Sienna knew how to harness and use, but she seldom remembered how it felt to be afraid herself.

Now, she was terrified.

Because death had come.

And it was laughing.

"Hehe, hehe, heahea… heahaha…" The giggles came from somewhere and nowhere, dancing on every surface of the throne room, licking Sienna's skins in a way that made her feel naked and cold.

She was alone in here, and there was no more enormous regret in her mind than that of having sent her guards away. Years had corroded her memories, eaten away the worse parts, and had made her weak.

Sienna had underestimated how much she still feared him.

As if he had come from thin air, a man took a step into the torches' light; he was slimmer than a corpse and paler than bone, wearing ragged clothes bound with brown leather the same color of the ponytail swinging behind his head.

His back was bent forward, and his hands kept brushing one another like those of a starved madman staring at fresh meat. Those yellow eyes of his, with pupils so tiny and unhinged, were grinning at Sienna's own golden ones.

Sienna took a deep breath as the man chuckled. She was the high leader of the White Fang, a position that demanded of her to not show fear. Sienna frowned, and finally, his name came out of her just slightly unsteady lips, "Tyrian Callows… I thought you were-"

"Dead?" his voice came like nails on a board, hurting Sienna's ears like a nightmare made real, and she clenched her fingers over her throne to keep herself in place.

"Yes."

Like a performer in a theater, Tyrian stood straight, holding onto the leather straps on his waist and took a step forward with a gleeful smile, "As a matter of speaking, I was very much, undoubtedly dead! At least… officially speaking, of course."

"What do you want?" Sienna asked, curiosity and anger mixing inside her words.

"Always straight to the point with you, aren't you even slightly curious about what I have been doing these last few years? It's been so long since we saw each other. I missed our talks, you know? All that murder and revolution and murder were… Ah, satisfying."

The armrests of the throne splintered under Sienna's hands, "You betrayed the cause, Tyrian, you slaughtered humans and our people alike. I allowed you this audience as an honor for your past work before you went rogue, but don't give me reasons to call for my guards and execute you!"

Tyrian chuckled and turned away from her revealing the massive scorpion tail protruding from his back, the deadly stinger seemed to be dancing to music that only it could hear, "Oh, but wasn't that why you wanted me, Sienna, dear? Wasn't you the one that needed to get rid of so many people that were in your way?"

Sienna stepped out of her throne and shouted, "I didn't want anyone dead!"

"Yet, you sent… Me." Tyrian smile grew so large that it reached his ears.

"Why are you here?" Sienna demanded, already tired of this ghost from her past and wishing to get rid of it.

The massive doors creaked as they opened enough for three figures to enter. Only their silhouettes were visible from so far away from the torches' lights.

"I serve someone new, someone, with a grand plan for the world, a beautiful future which I wished to share with you, Sienna." Tyrian's words were laced with his sick giggles, but Sienna wasn't paying attention to him anymore. Instead, she waited to see who he had brought with him.

"This," Tyrian continued as he gestured to the shadowy figures that were slowly approaching the light. "Are my associates."

A woman came into the light, and Sienna arched an eyebrow with evident disgust as her golden eyes absorbed the woman's appearance. "A human?"

"It is an honor to be on your presence," said the human with a sultry and sensual voice, "my name… is Cinder Fall."

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**Adam – Adam – Adam**

Blake's head rested in my hands, her body laid sprawled in the crimson grass, slowly consuming it, growing around it, over it. But I couldn't do anything about it.

I was kneeling on the dirt, holding onto her head. Blake's eyes kept staring at me in horror, betrayal, hurt. Her mouth slightly open as if she had tried to say one last thing but haven't had the chance.

I haven't given her a chance.

"Who's she?" A voice from my memory said.

I rose my head to find a boy standing just beyond my knees. He wasn't looking at me but rather down at Blake's disembodied head. He was short for his age, with pale skin and red hair sweepback with a pair of black horns protruding from the sides of his forehead.

A brandmark right over his left eye said, 'SDC.'

"Her name is…was Blake Belladonna," the words came out of me like a lifeless statement, as if it didn't have anything to do with me.

"Did you killed her?" the young me asked, and I nodded in return. "Who are you?" the boy then said.

I couldn't look him on his eyes, it didn't matter that they were not hidden while mine had run away behind that Grimm mask I always wore. That brandmark in his face burned in my flesh, shame burned inside me. "I don't know."

"Why don't you know?"

"I don't know."

"Did she know?"

"I don't know."

"But, I know."

I looked up, he was staring at me. Not a hint of pity, sadness, or mercy sparkled in his single blue eye. The burned one, red and lifeless, glared at me with hatred, disgust, and disappointment before he said one last thing.

"You are not me."

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**Vale – Commercial District – Pilton's Hotel**

I opened my eyes.

I had fallen asleep on the chair again, my back hurt, my arms ached, my muscles felt cramped, and my neck felt like it had twisted the wrong way. I moved to sit straight on the wooden chair and quietly grunted and held onto its arms while the thing creaked underneath me.

A cold breeze from above bit me and reminded me I wasn't wearing my blazer, and my face was naked without its mask.

I glanced back towards the lonely window of the room to find the sun was only starting to peek from between the buildings of Vale, which meant I had at least gotten three hours of sleep tonight before the nightmare woke me up.

I sighed.

Wilt and Blush were leaning against the side of my chair. A constant purring came from the air conditioner above my head, and the sheets on the bed next to me stirred slightly as their occupant exhaled.

A mane of black hair poked out from them, and a cat ear twitched on top of it once or twice as the air coming from above tickled it. I leaned closer, and my hand landed on the thick mane of hair, I brushed it away to find the collar of my black blazer.

I grasped it with my thumb and index finger and pulled it down to reveal skin.

Unmarred skin.

I trailed the tip of my finger on the skin of her neck, trying to find any signs, any marks or scars but found none.

She groaned and moved, her hair fell back down, hiding her skin before she pulled her face off the pillow, a pair of drowsy golden eyes meet with mines for what it felt an eternity. "Did I wake you up?" I asked.

Blake shook her head in denial and yawned. "Not really."

She sat on the bed while she rubbed one of her eyes with the back of her wrist, the covers fell off her body, leaving only my half-buttoned blazer to protect her from the cold.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, and that question brought some alertness back into her eyes.

"I should be the one asking you that." Blake moved through the bed towards me and then slid into my lap as her arms circled around my shoulders. I grabbed her waist like it was made of porcelain, having a hard time even believe that this was real.

"I'm fine." I lied, and Blake noticed it enough that she frowned.

"Did you had another nightmare?" she asked, but rather than answer her, I leaned forward to capture her mouth with mine.

Our lips met, I enjoyed their warm feeling, it was a chastise kiss, an innocent one that only asked for assurance because I needed it, I needed to know she was real.

She ended the kiss and moved out of my lap as she stood up, the light of the window framed her lithe body while she walked away. "I'm going to take a shower," Blake said and left my view as she went into the bathroom and closed the door.

I sighed, my body melting over the chair.

I knew what I saw, I knew what I felt, I knew what had happened, yet reality kept thankfully defying me.

At that train, I had killed Blake. I had felt the echoes of the blade sinking into her flesh, and I remember the blood spraying my face, yet someone with her face was currently taking a shower a room away from me.

I had seen her head fly away, yet after I blinked, it was still attached to her body, and she was still holding her hand up at me, begging me to grab it, begging me to run away with her.

I had taken it.

For all the wrong reasons.

I had fantasized about killing her. I don't think there was any need for more proof to state that Blake had been right, I have become a monster, a murderer. I became the beast the White Fang needed but not the one Blake wanted, and because of that, I had wanted to… I had wished to, I imagine… I wanted…

I tried to kill Blake.

I bend my chest forward, and one of my elbows came to rest on my knee. I used my other hand to cover up the brandmark in my eye and pressed it hard so that the ridges of the scar would hurt.

If I truly loved Blake, I would have let her go, knowing that I was beyond saving even if she believed otherwise, but I didn't… I had taken her hand because I knew she was the only thing keeping me from breaking, and I was terrified of taking that last step into the abyss.

I was merely using her, and that realization made me chuckle in self-disgust.

The Keeper… that God had been right about me.

"I'm done with the shower." Blake came out of the bathroom wearing her usual clothes. My blazer hanged from her arm with her unlaced ribbon laying above it and a towel in her other hand that she used to keep drying out her hair.

I nodded and got up from the chair, ignoring the brief instant of worry that shined in her face before I went to the sole table of the room where our limited supplies and things waited for me.

Blake had brought a bag she had hidden in the forest before the mission, which right now had some change of her clothes, a few liens and an undeniably empty spot that made me arch an eyebrow over it, that spot should have had what I was looking for, the thing I had ignored for the last three days while we hid on this random hotel and ate away our few resources uselessly.

"Where are the transcripts?" I asked before I dug my hand inside to look for the paper bag that should have been there.

"Here," Blake said, and I looked back to find her sitting on the side of the bed with the paper bag open between her hands.

I plopped beside Blake. I pulled her closer and sat her between my legs, with her back to my chest and my chin resting on her shoulder.

Blake leaned her head against mine and opened the bag to reveal two stacks of stapled documents. She pulled only one out, and I took it from her fingers with my hand that wasn't holding onto her.

I kept looking at the first page with a frown over my eyes, not really reading anything but instead just staring at the logo of the Beacon huntsmen academy that was emblazoned right on the top center of the page.

"Do you trust me?" Blake asked as her fingers landed on the edges of my cheek and moved my head to face her.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

My words brought a chuckle and a smile to her lips that made my stomach tumble on itself. Blake stole the stack of papers from my hand, and she flipped the first page over, which had a picture of me on the top right looking glaring at the camera.

I wasn't sure when or how that picture had been taken, but in it, I was wearing my regular outfit, but instead of my mask, I had a pair of black glasses that covered enough to hide the brandmark and most of my upper face.

There was something else interesting about the picture, even though nothing was covering my red hair, my horns weren't there.

Right below the picture was a series of questions with simple fill in answers. I read a couple before I reached one that asked if I was human.

It said yes.

I glanced at Blake, and she seemed to understand as she gave me a nervous smile.

"Why?" I asked.

"I want people to get to know us for who we are before they have a chance to judge us for what we are, I know it may, or well it will be kind of hard, but you have to trust me, it will work." She said, and I sighed.

"I still don't understand this plan of yours."

She exhaled, her hands slightly clenching on the paper. "Is not… a plan, or a mission. We will give up violence and dedicate both of our lives to do better… no, to be better. We will fight for our people's place in the world the right way by becoming-"

"Huntsmen?" I interrupted her, but rather than seem bothered by it, Blake nodded with so much resolve in her eyes that I couldn't stop myself from looking away as I said, "I see your end goal, but how do you plan on doing it? Stroll in the front door of Beacon and say 'Hi, we're ex-terrorist interested in killing Grimm, where do we sign up?'"

I didn't mean to sound harsh with my words, but it seemed some of the irritation I felt over all of this slithered inside my tone of voice because Blake's ears flattened against her hair and she hesitated before responding, "No, that's not... that is not what I meant."

I held her tighter. "I know, I'm sorry I wasn't trying to hurt you. I just don't want to leave things up to chance."

Blake began to talk fast, nervously trying to explain everything without taking a single breath in between words, "The transcripts are already done, my father forged them, and we were accepted. All we must really do is show up tomorrow to be taken for the entrance exam. We will have to act like we don't know each other for some time to avoid looking suspicious probably, but Huntsmen-in-training are always put first into pairs and then into groups of four. I couldn't find out how exactly teams are selected, but we can easily rig it to ensure we are together, and then we will train to save lives, and you won't have to take any more lives, and, and I will be-"

I put my hand gently over her mouth to stop her rambling as it was apparent, she was trying to convince me again, even though I had already said I would follow her.

It seemed like Blake felt like I was going to turn back on her at any moment, and it hurt to know I had messed things up enough to make her reach that point.

So instead, I decided to take a different route to relax her, one I had enjoyed when we were much younger and innocent.

"And what is this exactly?" I pointed at the line in the transcript, which should have held my name. There was something clearly written in there right now.

But it wasn't my name.

"Well…" She chuckled awkwardly. "I didn't see a problem with using my real name. I'm not in any bounty lists, but… although the authorities don't have any pictures of you, they did have your name." she glanced at me with an adorable, silly smile that made it hard to keep a disapproving face.

"So, your father replaced it with this one?" I arched an eyebrow, and she couldn't look me in the eye no more.

"It was me… actually." A heavy silence followed that statement, and Blake's nerves forced her to twirl a bit of her hair around one of her fingers.

I took the transcript from her hand, throwing it to the other edge of the bed where it landed softly before I took Blake entirely into my arms, she seemed content and unaware of what I planned to do as she moved to rest against me with her eyes closed. I couldn't contain the smile on my face as I said, "If we ever get a dog, you are not allowed to name it."

Blake flinched and moved away from me. looking as offended as a kitten who got her tuna stolen right from her mouth. "We are never getting a dog."

I chuckled. "Well, if we ever get an imaginary dog, you do not get to name it either."

She grasped a fistful of my shirt and pulled me closer, her golden eyes burning up and her teeth exposed in anger that I dared keep a smirk on my lips. "We are. Not. Getting a dog of any kind, okay?" Blake said before she pushed me, and I fell on the mattress, doing my best not to laugh but unable to erase the massive grin on my face.

Blake crawled over me, sitting on stomach before she leaned down to the point our noses were touching, and our eyes were but a breath away. The palms of her hands rested on the bed to the sides of my head. "And just so you know, in that parallel universe where we did get one, I would be the one to name our dog," she said.

"Convince me." I dared her.

She did.

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**Vale – Residential District – Beacon Air Bus**

To say that I was tense would have been an understatement.

I stuck out like a sore thumb, where I stood at one corner of the Airship's long corridor-like waiting cabin. I was the tallest in the room by at least a couple of inches and most likely the oldest, with me being nineteen, most if not all the kids around me must have been seventeen like Blake. There was a clear divide of a few feet of no man lands between me and the rest of the people in the room that nobody dared to cross as I brooded in silence.

Blake was on the other side of the cabin, stealing glances at me from time to time from over the book she was reading, I knew she would have said that I was pouting, but I was thankful she couldn't right now.

I crossed my arms over my chest and exhaled with my eyes closed. It felt strange to not have the weight of my mask over my eyes. It's been years since I had used glasses, but the dark glasses hiding my brandmark would do just fine.

The real issue was the other new addition to my outfit.

I rose my fingers to grasp the cap of the black beret that was on top of my head, covering my horns, and most of my crimson hair. I had never had any strong emotions towards my horns before, but the idea of having to hide them still made me feel… nothing positive.

I was on edge, tapping my foot and desperate to leave this cursed flying can, I still couldn't believe I had accepted to hide as a human and been surrounded by them wasn't helping with my mood either.

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is coming to beacon with me. This is the best. Day. Ever!" Shouted a tall girl with a thick mane of blonde hair that was near Blake as the blonde girl bear-hugged another with short hair that was black on the roots but turned red as it grew.

I stole a glance at them from under my glasses without facing them. The blonde wore what I would call a very risqué get up, with a tan jacket that bared the girl's midriff, a low-cut top that didn't leave much to the imagination and mini shorts that didn't help much. The dark-haired girl on the contrast wore a black dress with long sleeves and a high collar with red trims that hid most of her skin under a thick crimson hooded cloak.

Their conversation was drowned over the noise of others talking, and I couldn't hear a thing of what they said to each other. The blonde kept hopping in excitement while the dark-haired girl seemed to share the same unhappiness I was feeling, although I wouldn't expect her to have similar reasons to mine.

But rather than pay attention to a couple of human girls, I instead decided to give it to the holographic screen that was playing the news from above one of the cabin's windows.

The screen showed the mug shot of an orange-haired man wearing a white suit.

"The failed dust robbery was led by the nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick who continues to evade authorities…" said the male newscaster.

The information was probably useless to me now, but it still caught my attention to find out who has been behind the dust robberies. The news quickly changed as a female newscaster appeared, and a picture of a Faunus protest took over the screen.

"In other news," began to say the female newscaster. "This Saturday's Faunus civil rights protest, turn dark… When members of the white fang disrupted the ceremony…"

I scoffed, I had still been the leader of the Vale branch when said protest had happened, no members of the white fang had been anywhere near the rally that day, but the sight was familiar. Humans would always use us as an excuse to oppress our kind.

This whole plan of ours was ridiculous, I had understood the hard way why we needed to leave the White Fang but to try and mingle with humans was still beyond me. I glanced at Blake and found her eyes already looking at me with concern painted all over them.

Before I could think of something to reassure her from afar, the holographic tv disappeared and, instead, the hologram of a blonde woman with clear reading glasses appeared in its stead. She wore clothes I found fitting for a teacher, a long-sleeved, pleated top with a wide keyhole neckline, and a dark pencil skirt with brown stockings.

But then she also had a stylized black cape, with lower edges that appeared like flames, and was colored a bright purple on the inside and black on the outside, which made me think that it was an unspoken rule for all huntsmen to have unique and outlandish outfits.

Not like I could talk much trash about it as I wore one myself.

The woman in the hologram crossed her hands behind her back and addressed everyone as if she could see us, "Hello, my name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy."

I scoffed over the woman's words, the irony of my presence here was funny enough to break through my moodiness.

The hologram kept going.

"Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace," Glynda said with so much confidence that had I not lived through enough things that contradicted her statement, I would have believed her. "And as future huntsmen and huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world… without further ado, I welcome you to Beacon."

The moment she finished, Glynda's hologram disappeared without any fanfare, which made me somewhat respect her, I could always value someone who didn't waste time with dramatics or empty words.

Still, it wasn't as if she needed it, not a second later after she finished, the Airship shook once, and it began to rise rapidly on the air. Most people in the cabin went near the windows to enjoy the view and point at different structures and places they could see of the vast city below us that was slowly shrinking in our eyes.

But I wasn't looking down at it.

Instead, I was watching ahead.

The Airship left the city, flying over the massive river.

On the horizon, the spires of Beacon academy sparkled against the warm caresses of the afternoon sun. It was that moment that it truly hit me. I was going to a huntsmen academy, I was taking the first step into becoming the very thing the first man I had murdered had been, a protector of the world, a hero of mankind, a killer of Grimm.

I smiled, sarcasm and apprehension pulling up my lips on equal measure. I guess karma worked in bizarre ways.

Suddenly a blonde guy smashed his hands on the window just a step away from me, making me wince as it had startled me out of my thoughts. He was wearing a dark hoodie under some very cheap looking pieces of armor, but I wasn't paying much attention to that and instead more as to how his head kept lolling side to side in between his arms.

"Euh, uh, huh," He whined and seemed like he was about to puke. I was looking for a way to move far from him without coming any closer, but he did first and went away, wobbling the whole way with a hand on his mouth.

It was a pathetic side that became even worse as he lost his footing and fell on his hands right over the Blonde girl's shoes and proceeded to vomit on them.

"Oh, Yang! Gross, you got puke on your shoes!" shouted the black-haired girl beside her.

The blonde one was in shock and only kept repeating "cuz, cuz, cuz, cuz!" while the dark-haired one tried to push the boy away from them. The rotting smell of half-eaten food assaulted my nose, and I groaned.

Karma really was a bitch.

I wouldn't realize it at that time when the Airship landed at the docks on the cliff that was the entrance to Beacon Academy. When Vomit boy, as the blonde guy was aptly nicknamed by the dark-haired girl, ran out first, followed not long after by me.

I stood there out the entrance of the ship, looking up to that grand tower at the center of Beacon, surrounded by more spires that made it look more like the castle of a fairy tale than a school.

I wouldn't realize how important those lives that walked around and beside me would become to me in the future that was yet to be written.

The girl with the thick mane of blonde hair laughed as she spoke with the dark-haired girl. They left by my side.

A girl with bright white hair on a side ponytail, waltzed away like a princess, followed by bodyguards that squirmed behind her while they carried her luggage.

A boy with a low ponytail and a streak of magenta on his dark hair moved calmly out of the ship, he was closely followed by a fair-skinned girl with spiky orange hair and a brash attitude.

Vomit boy stumbled through the crowd. He didn't take long to regain his footing, and although he hesitated on his steps, determination still pulled him forward.

Blake's hand brushed mine as she went away.

I stood there, a stone against the sea. Letting those around me leave and walk away while I only watched.

I never knew your name, I never asked or looked for it. If you were still alive, Huntsman, you would probably hate me, and I'm certain you would have laughed if you could hear me now as I spoke silently to you inside my own head.

I won't ask for your forgiveness.

I won't ask for your blessing.

I didn't know what the Keeper… that God may have wanted of me when he gave me this life, did he wished me to succeed or fail? I wasn't sure how to reach either end either way. But although I was afraid of this new page of my life, I would walk it.

But I wondered as I took out my scroll from my pocket and opened it, seeing the name on it that I was now meant to use, but that wasn't my own. I wondered while I tug my scroll back, and glanced over the pristine roofs of Beacon academy, knowing that I was giving up on being the man I had been born to be in this second life of mine.

Huntsman, would you care to know who I would be?

Because I'm not Adam Taurus anymore.

And a crow flew towards Beacon.

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**And that's the end of the episode!**

**I know this chapter officially is the first episode of Volume 2, but I wrote it with the idea of it being the second part of chapter 10 rather than his own thing. I initially wanted to post both together, but as you already know, I failed miserably at that endeavor. **

**I'm sorry, I disappointed you all. **

**Now the harsh truth is… I can't keep up. **

**High School is hard, I'm not really that bright, and trying to write two stories simultaneously and get at least one chapter (this week I had tried for two…) every weekend has burnt me down quite harshly. I began writing because I enjoyed it, and I wanted to showcase my work to others, but currently, I feel pretty sad. **

**Originally I planned to start working this week on my spreadsheet. But first, let me explain what I mean with a spreadsheet. **

**I'm not very good at coming up with the plot on the fly. Because of this, I prefer to write it down on an excel document and work out everything I want to happen there before I even start writing the actual chapters. I planned to do the spreadsheet this week and then start working on episode 12, the next one. **

**But I need a break. **

**I don't plan to go on hiatus or abandon any of my work if you guys still like what I write, but I don't plan on doing any fanfic related work for this week, I will do my spreadsheet next week and take this one for myself, I'm sorry for the trouble. **

**Hopefully, you guys don't hate me. I know asking for your patience is a lot coming from me, but I will try and make this a story worth reading. I just need a bit of time. **

** UninstallME out. **


	12. Log 12: To Be A Fake Hero

**Warning: ****This work is rated T for a reason; there is Violence, Blood, Angst, and the mention of serious topics like racism and mental illness that merit this rating. This work of Fanfiction will never have any material that would send it over the edge to an M rating like Lemons or highly descriptive scenes of violence.**

**Salutations everybody!**

**Here is the second episode of REwrite: Adam Season 2! I'm back in business and ready to write more, so I hope you guys are prepared to get annoyed by me constant nagging on this Author's notes cuz I like whining about school! Joke… **

**Anyway, IMPORTANT thing I want to mention, I got asked a couple of times if I was abandoning my works and I wish to tell you I will NEVER discontinue any of my stories, yes sometimes real life or some other thing is going to make me take a breather, or maybe I get stuck in a chapter, and it takes longer to write but tbh. Writing these fanfictions is my hobby. Any time I have five minutes to myself, the first thing I want to spend my free time in is writing. Discontinuing this works would mean abandoning my hobby, and neither will happen any time soon. **

**But please, I have bored you enough with this rant, go and read the chapter! I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I loved writing it. **

**And as always, I do not own RWBY!**

**Enjoy!**

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**Volume 2**

**Log 12: To Be A Fake Hero**

**Vale – Beacon Academy – Ozpin's Office**

Coffee had always been one of humanity's greatest inventions, one that professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon academy, quite appreciated and one that he sorely would need another cup of quite soon if Glynda didn't stop punishing his unfortunate ears.

"I understood and accepted the case with the Arc boy. I would have even agreed after some discussion about accepting Blake Belladonna into the academy, but this?" Glynda smashed the tip of her riding crop right on Ozpin's desk, making everything currently on it leap an inch into the air.

The glass table currently had Ozpin scroll latched to it, and the information of a particular candidate to become a student was displayed in a holographic screen that rose from the center of the desk.

The picture of a young man with red hair and thick black glasses over an angular and irritated-looking face took over most of the screen's left side while the right side was filled with the young man's information, of which both Ozpin and Glynda were very much aware that the only thing there that was true was the checkmark that stated the man was, well, male.

Not even the man's name in there was real.

Both knew the young man's real identity, yet Ozpin didn't feel the need to state the man's real name out loud and Glynda appeared as if she was afraid that if she dared to speak of it, then the red-haired man would suddenly and magically appear right there in Ozpin's office out of thin air.

Ozpin gazed once again into the bottom of his empty cup, feeling the need to sigh but knowing better than to show any obvious discomfort as Glynda kept berating him. He quite enjoyed her perspectives and opinions. She was always capable of giving him a point of view that with his quite advanced age for human standards, he seemed to still be lacking.

That one being the point of view of the modern world.

But at the same time, Ozpin couldn't deny to himself that he quite detested when Glynda felt the need to reprimand him… which ironically, he thought with a tiny grin dancing on his lips, happened quite often.

"A well known terrorist leader with a long list of not only heinous crimes but actual murder? I have seen you do many things I have thoroughly disapprove of, but this? This is pure insanity!" Glynda kept saying as she passed from right to left, left to right, moving side to side without noticing the fond smile on Ozpin's mouth.

"Qrow agrees with me. and He…" Ozpin said, referring to the young terrorist in question as he gestured at his picture on the screen, and not their long-time compatriot. "…Deserves an opportunity. I do not believe him evil by nature but nurture. Which could still be reversible, I do not wish to give up on someone so young just yet."

"His victims would disagree with you." Glynda pointed out, which only made Ozpin lose his smile.

"That they would," he agreed. He was honest when he said he believed in second chances, but Glynda was also right that no crimes against the innocents should go unpunished. If everything went according to his plans, the young man would atone for his sins and become an asset to them at the same time.

Ozpin only needed to convince Glynda of it.

"And Qrow spends too much time drunk to even recognize his own hand, how could his opinion on this matter at all? Does he know him?"

"They have met, yes, although our dear friend has never precisely shared the tale, I do trust his opinion on the matter."

Glynda grunted in what Ozpin would have considered a very unladylike way, but he wasn't about to mention that, instead he covered up the returning grin of his mouth with his empty mug as the woman tapped the floor with her heel.

"I will allow it," she finally said before her glare landed back on him. "But I will keep that terrorist on my radar at all times. I won't endanger innocent students for the sake of your pet project, not this time, Oz."

The nickname and the memory from their shared past made him lose the grin. He frowned, the mug feeling quite heavy all of a sudden as he put it back into the desk and gazed over the windows behind him. "I wouldn't expect any less from you."

He heard the tapping of her heels as she left. The elevator dinged and the doors opened behind him and quickly closed leaving him alone in his office, only then did he allow himself to sit back into his chair, with one hand going to pull some hair away from his eyes.

Ozpin wasn't a god, and even if he was, he knew the gods themselves were not immune to making mistakes. But as he thought this, it only felt as if he was giving himself another excuse.

Ozpin was sure this was the right choice.

He gazed at the picture of the red-haired man, the terrorist.

He only hoped the boy would also pick the right choice.

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**Vale – Beacon Academy – Main Avenue**

I was beginning to wonder if Blake planned to become my personal watchdog for whatever years we spent here. I chuckled at the thought of calling her a watchdog out loud, knowing perfectly that if I did, I would probably get my face torn apart.

The main avenue of Beacon was as grandiose as expected, it bisected a pair of rings of colonnades, in its center was a statue of a huntsman and a huntress standing atop of a cliff with a wolf-like Grimm standing menacingly below them. And around the statue were a pair of circular ponds surrounded by crimson trees from the Forever Fall forest.

Soon-to-be-students mingled around the place, most kept going moving forward to the massive entrance of the academy, but enough people were talking and laughing carefree of the world around them to make it feel oppressive enough.

Other than Blake, who was standing near the edge of the courtyard, seemingly preoccupied with her book, but most likely, stealing glances at me when she thought I wasn't looking. I had not seen a single other Faunus in the crowd, and that was starting to deteriorate my mood.

I wasn't surprised about the fact, yes, but I had hoped to find more of our kind, at least enough to form a group, but my hopes about that were dwindling rather quickly.

I sighed, it didn't look like I would do anything else than waste my time by loitering around the courtyard or being so distracted, I went to turn around toward the entrance.

My arm crashed against the metal pole of a baggage trolley filled to the brim with luggage. The impact set the cart off the butler's hands that had been pushing it and into a direct course with a depressed-looking dark-haired girl.

She didn't see it coming, and my hesitation over helping a human, made me remain motionless until the trolley smacked the girl right on her back, and the whole tower of luggage on it collapse over her.

"Shit," I cursed.

"Hey, watch where you are going!" shouted a girl beside me. She was a head shorter than I was and had a luscious side-ponytail of entirely white hair above a pair of blue eyes much clearer than mine.

She pointed an accusing finger at me, and the first thing that came into my mind was to chop it off, which forced me to shook my head to get rid of the thought. That was until she huffed at me and turned around to inspect the damage of her bags.

And gave me a full view of the symbol emblazoned on her back.

"Schnee…" the disgusting name slithered off my lips, she didn't notice and kept moving around the downed trolley went to yell at the little dark-haired girl that had yet to do anything to get out from under the pile of luggage.

Suddenly just as the Schnee came closer, the girl under the bags sneezed and an explosion of dust engulfed them both and the luggage, I covered my eyes with an arm, but thankfully the dust inside those bags must have not been highly refined as it did nothing more than tickle my aura.

"Uhhh," groaned the dark-haired girl, her silver eyes moving in circles much like her head while she sat stunned on the center of a blackened spot on the ground that marked her as the source of the explosion.

The Schnee had fallen on her butt, covered in ashes that marred her once white and pristine appearance. "Do you even know how dangerous that was!" She shouted and jumped to her feet with a finger pointing at the dark-haired girl.

"Sorry!" The dark-haired girl exclaimed, hiding her face under her hands, which only incited the Schnee even more.

"Do you have any idea of all the damage you could have caused? Have nobody ever taught you how to handle dust before?"

"Huh?" the dark-haired girl said, looking more scared than confused as the Schnee invaded her personal space with a judging finger.

The Schnee assaulted her with her words, asking questions and answering them herself faster than the other girl seemed to catch onto what she said, "Dust! Did you even hear me? What are you? Braindead? All of my boxes are filled with dust. Mine, and purified from the Schnee quarry. Are you even listening to me? did you hit you-"

Before she could continue, the dark-haired girl sneezed again, setting off another smaller explosion of dust that engulfed the Schnee girl and dirtied her clothes even more, which made me smile.

"Unbelievable!" the Schnee shouted while she dusted herself off, and the other girl got up.

"I'm really, really sorry." The dark haired-girl looked more like a puppy on the verge of crying as she stood there with her whole body shrinking under the weight of the Schnee's judgemental eyes. I knew the dark-haired girl was a human, but to even see that the Schnee could treat their own kind like mere trash had the edges of my lips curling up, making me look like I was snarling.

"You complete dolt!" The Schnee insulted the other girl before she scoffed. "What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"

I had enough.

"And why is a Schnee attending beacon anyway?" I interceded, I walked to stand between the two girls.

The Schnee sneered. "What's that supposed to mean? Do you even know who you're talking to?"

I took a better look at the Schnee's face, I recognized her from target pictures we have had at the White Fang bases. "Weiss Schnee, the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, the largest producer and distributor of dust in the world," I said without trying to hide the poison from my words, but she didn't seem to notice it.

"Hah, finally some recognition around here," Weiss smirked proudly with her arms crossed and a smug smirk before she appeared to remember what I did before, and she went back to being moody and pointed her finger at me. "But don't think just because of that I will forgive-"

"The same company infamous for their controversies and more than questionable businesses," I interrupted her. "I would have expected someone of your kind to have gone to the mighty Atlas, but it seems we are the unlucky ones." I chuckled darkly as I said those last words, and although the dark-haired girl seemed to smile over my words. Weiss took a step back as she gasped in surprise at how I could dare said those things.

But I wasn't looking at either of them anymore.

The one that caught my eye was Blake, standing not too far away and clenching the book in her hands so tightly that it could have ripped apart in any second, she was staring at me with pure unadulterated fear in her eyes.

Her attitude confused me…

Until I noticed that my fingers were holding onto the hilt of my sword. My muscles were tense and ready to strike the Schnee wench.

A second became eternity while I pondered over it.

Weiss Schnee was nothing more than a brat right now, a little seventeen-years-old girl pampered throughout her whole life and no real combat experience, her aura wouldn't be strong enough to resist me. All I would need was one quick slash, and I could rid the world of another Schnee.

It would be the most natural kill of my life.

And that was the thought that scared me.

That it would have been so natural and easy on my conscience to get rid of Weiss Schnee stilled my hand.

"How dare you!" Weiss said at me showcasing how absolutely offended she felt over my words and proving just how unprepared Weiss was that she had not noticed the danger she had been in. She kept spewing her words, "the nerve of you! You… you. I can't deal with people like you two!"

She huffed, turned around, and left stomping like a child while her bodyguards tried to keep up with the trolley already filled back up with her bags.

Someone groaned loudly and defeated next to me, and I glanced at the dark-haired girl. Her shoulders sagged down, and her eyes looked downcast and beaten, "I guess I'm not the only one having a bad first day?"

I choose not to respond to that as it sounded more like a rhetorical question.

"Thank you for helping me… I'm Ruby Rose, by the way," the dark-haired girl said as she chuckled awkwardly.

"Don't mention it," I responded without paying much attention since it had been my fault she had been in that situation, to begin with. Blake's eyes were glaring daggers at me from the other side of the courtyard, and I nodded at her instead. Blake nodded back and went toward the entrance.

"So, what do- Oh." The dark-haired girl said behind me, but I didn't glance back as I walked away, I didn't have time to waste on a human.

The academy's entrance gave way to an ample room that appeared to be a standing glass-domed amphitheater with a large open area that surrounded a semi-circular stage. Although it wasn't a small room, the place was crowded to the brim with excitable and giddy teenagers that had me regretting every decision in my life that could have led me to this hellish place.

Blake was a few steps beyond the massive doors, seemingly occupied with her book, but we shared a glance, a nod, and she went on her way to the left side of the amphitheater. I followed her a few steps away so that we wouldn't appear as if we were together.

We ended near the walls. The place was crowded enough that even this far away from the stage, it didn't look strange at all that we were arm to arm…

And close enough to talk.

"What was that?" Blake asked, although she whispered with an off-handily tone of voice, it did little to mask the angry concern her eyes were displaying even when they weren't looking at me.

"Nothing." I shrugged her off, but she wouldn't have it.

"You were about to kill her," she whispered, and this time, the anger was evident in her voice.

I spotted the Schnee heiress coming into the room and grunted as I pointed her out by nodding at her. "She is Weiss Schnee."

Blake gasped and took a closer look, She narrowed her eyes for a better look and then exhaled, I noticed the bow over her head moving as if her ears had wanted to hide. "Why would she be here?" Blake asked, frustrated, but I couldn't give her an answer as I wanted to know that myself.

"This changes our plans," I said, the idea of having to even breathe the same air as a Schnee without gutting her was an afront to my senses. I didn't want to kill anymore, I couldn't allow myself to turn back into a monster nor to fail Blake, but I knew enough about me to be sure if I stayed anywhere near to that girl I would end up killing her.

But Blake shook her head firmly in denial and whispered with conviction, "No, it doesn't."

I sighed and went to try and reason with her, "Blake-"

But she interrupted me before I got more than her name out, "We will avoid her at all cost and continue on our own way, Beacon is large enough that we will never see her again after we get our team."

I arched an eyebrow under my glasses, I moved my hand against my mouth and under my chin, trying to avoid getting irritated at Blake. Our half-baked plan had too many plot holes. We didn't even know yet how teams were formed. For all we knew, we could end up separated and with the Schnee in one of our teams, forcing us to be in contact with her.

I opened my mouth to say so.

Blake thrust her book over my mouth. "Just read this and don't look at her anymore." She let go of it, I caught the book just as she began to walk away and I sighed, holding onto it with a pair of fingers.

I glanced at the cover of the book. "'A Man With Two Souls?'" I said its title out loud, maybe Blake was right. I had never read any novels since I came into this new life even though Blake would never be without one in her person at all times, I have had too much work to have a hobby… but I did like reading mission reports, so, maybe?

I groaned. I didn't have time to waste into a pastime.

Suddenly the jarring sound of a microphone turning on followed by a man coughing at it as he cleared his throat got my head out of the gutter.

The man was a strange sight that I had seen many times on the White Fangs list of 'Do Not Approach' huntsmen. With a head topped with old gray hair yet a sharp face with not a single wrinkle on it. He wore an old fashioned suit over a green vest and a cowl of the same color as well as a pair of small shaded spectacles. He held a stylized cane in one hand and a coffee mug on the other.

"Professor Ozpin," I whispered the name of the headmaster of Beacon Academy to myself, the tale about the man's achievements was told in Vale as if they were the fairytales of a fictional hero of old.

Yet the man was very much real.

"I will… keep this brief." The man's gaze traveled through the amphitheater, when it passed over me it felt as if he had been directly staring at me, I even thought he had smiled, but I supposed it was merely a trick of the lights.

"You have traveled here today in search of knowledge," Ozpin said with the same dead tone of voice as if he was reading out loud from a math book. "To hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you are finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people… But I look among you, and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction."

The headmaster let his last words sink in, his eyes jumping from one head in the crowd to another before he continued with his speech, "you assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at the school will prove that knowledge will only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Ozpin moved away from the microphone without another word, leaving only the murmurs of the nervous crowd of teenagers around me whispering in his wake as Glynda Goodwitch came forward to speak and explain the sleeping arrangments for tonight and that the test would be in the morning before she dismissed us.

I crossed my arms as I watched Ozpin leave the stage and disappear through a door, narrowing my eyes with a sense of curiosity and apprehension at the man's words.

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**Vale – Beacon Academy – Orchid Hall**

Silence.

The silence was a gift, a miracle, a beautiful thing to strive for, but more than all of that, the silence seemed to be, and it appeared that it would continue to be nothing but…

A lie.

Human teenagers were loud, and it seemed they couldn't do a thing without absolutely making sure everyone in the vicinity was aware of it. Girls talking about boys and their nails, boys rough playing like cubs and smacking jokes at each other. A pillow flying around in the darkness like a ghost haunting the room.

With no chance of sleeping in such a loud and dangerous environment, I had taken to try and read the book Blake gave me, but I had been staring at the first page for the last fifteen minutes.

It seemed silence was a prerequisite I required to read, which realizing that truly only helped in souring my mood even further than the loud humans were doing already. My gaze separated from the page and landed on Blake. She was far away from me, sitting with her back against the opposite wall of the spacious hall.

Unlike me, she was wearing a proper pajama that she had brought, and she somehow managed to read unbothered by the loud noises while I was still wearing my clothes, including the glasses and the beret. I had only taken my blazer off and laid it neatly beside me, where I sat against the wall. My weapons rested above my blazer, and I kept a hand over Wilt's hilt.

I didn't have a real reason to do that. Most kids had stored their weapons elsewhere, and those few with them here didn't raise any red flags in my head.

It seemed a useful deterrent that kept people from approaching me and annoying me for the most part, at least.

I should try and get some sleep, I knew it would be the right thing to do since I had yet to hear anything about what the test would be, I was quite familiar with working with little no to sleep, but I didn't like taking chances anyway.

Then a pillow flew right across my eyes, and a girl squealed in the darkness, I was unsure if she had done it out of happiness or anger.

Yeah, I went back to try and read the bloody book. I wasn't going to get any sleep tonight. I had to reread the first sentence twice before it sunk into my head, but that was some progress, I went to start with the second and…

Why was I hearing a duck quaking?

I moved the book down to inspect the room and found two humans were encroaching into my territory, the darkness and my shades making it hard for a moment to recognize them and making me clench my hand quite visibly on my sword.

Neither seemed to notice as they came close enough that I was able to see them, which I regretted almost instantly. It was the tall blonde girl and the one with short dark hair that had exploded earlier today…

What was her name again? She had said it before I left.

Oh, I remember now.

Ruby Rose

"Hello!" The blonde girl singsonged the word. I was considering if I should just bring up the book to my face and ignore her or find another excuse and leave. Ruby didn't seem happy as she was dragged by her hand toward me by the blonde girl that led the way waving.

Ruby threw the blonde's hand away when they reached me, but the blonde girl seemed unfazed by that as she said to me, "I believe you may know each other?"

I nodded. "Ruby?"

Ruby perked up at the mention of her name, taking a step closer and pointing at herself, "Yes, that's me! you helped me- "

"Don't mention it." I interrupted her hoping that would be the end of it as I opened the book again and acted as if I was reading it.

Ruby giggled awkwardly, holding onto her arm and taking a step back. The blonde girl smile, though, became wider and forced as her hands clenched over her waist. "Hey punk, my sis came here to say thank you, would it hurt you too much if you tried to be, I don't know, nicer?"

"Yang, he is busy!" Ruby interceded.

I arched an eyebrow at the mention of them being sisters. They didn't look similar at all. Ruby was short, pale, doll-like in appearance, and her black hair gave way to crimson strands at the ends and a pair of silver eyes I had never seen before.

On the other hand, the newly named Yang was only one or two inches shorter than I was, muscular and slightly tanned by the sun with a mane of bright golden locks and lilac eyes that seemed like they were permanently filled with mischief.

There was an edge in Yang's fake smile, one of pent up anger that reminded me of my own. It didn't seem like ignoring them would get them to leave, so maybe politeness would work better.

"You misunderstand me," I said without lowering the book, "I meant that it wasn't necessary to give me thanks, I did nothing special."

"Aha… right." the blonde seemed out of ideas of what to say, the edge in Yang's smile disappearing, but her grin now turning uncomfortable, her gaze escaped from mine, and she brushed some of her hair while she chuckled awkwardly.

I had hoped they would leave now, but instead, Ruby gasped and came closer, leaning into my personal space, and I felt my muscles tense before I noticed she wasn't coming closer to me exactly.

But to my blade.

"Is that a high powered, semi-automatic rifle sheath with a propelled quick-draw mechanism?! What kind of blade is inside it? A short sword? Stiletto maybe, no, it looks more like a one edge Chokuto!" she half asked, half explained with an excited tone that was akin to that of a little girl getting her gifts on Christmas and ear-piercing enough to shatter glass and make me wince.

Ruby was hopping up and down like an overcaffeinated bunny with her knees bend and her arms close to her chest while her fingers twirled greedily in the air in the direction of my weapons, which creeped me out and had me pulling them closer on reflex.

"Don't worry, she is a dork when it comes to weapons," Yang said. I wasn't sure how to react, but thankfully, Yang grabbed Ruby by the neck of her pajamas and pulled her away from me. "Easy there, Rubes, you don't wanna scare him, don't ya?"

"Aw, aw, aw," Ruby whined as she was dragged away to a more acceptable distance, but then she seemed to snap out of it, she giggled and pressed the index fingers of her hands together, "Sorry, I just… really like seeing new weapons."

"I see…" I was still somewhat too stunned to get angry. These girls reminded me a little of Blake when she was new and innocent… something I missed.

"I just…" Ruby continued, blushing a little and gazing back to where her sleeping bag waited as she talked, "get so excited when I see a new weapon because it is like, they can say so much about you, you know. It is an extension of our bodies and what we use to protect the world. I… I have wanted to become a huntress since I was a child, and Yang used to tell me stories about heroes and monsters."

Her innocent point of view made me smile with fondness. "That sounds… Admirable."

"Well, yeah, hehe." She blushed further. "But to be a hero, one has to have a great weapon!" Ruby stated and pointed at my blade.

I didn't want to risk giving her time to think about asking me to show it to her or worse, give it to her, so I quickly asked, "And where is yours?"

"Oh, Crescent Rose?" Ruby said and glanced back to her sleeping bag. She smiled innocently at me. "I left it on my bed, I never go anywhere without her!"

"Crescent Rose?" I repeated the name, honest curiosity clinging to my voice.

But it was Yang who chuckled and answered first, "she means her Scythe."

"I made her myself!" Ruby announced with pure, unfiltered pride in her words as she stood straighter, her nose pointing to the sky and her hand over her waist in a ridiculous pose of victory that made me snort.

"Oh, I'm so proud of my baby sister!" Yang lunged at Ruby and grabbed her sideways by her waist. Yang then pulled her little sister up into the air.

Ruby trashed and flailed under her sister's grasp. "Cut it out!" She shouted, and not a second later, she tried to punch Yang in the face, but the older sister unceremoniously unhanded Ruby, and the younger girl fell on her butt with a squeal.

"My name is Yang, by the way. Yang Xiao Long!" Yang pointed her thumb at herself as she shouted, and a cheeky smirk took over her lips.

I nodded with an honest smile. "My name-"

"Could you all shut up already, some people are actually trying to sleep!" shrieked a voice I would never confuse. Weiss Schnee made me grit my teeth, and I searched for her, thinking I would find her staring at us with the need to cause trouble, but instead, she was looking at the room at large.

The Schnee's glare sent the place into complete silence. Most when back to their beds, including Ruby and her sister. I wouldn't deny to myself that the sisters had helped to improve my mood slightly, but the Schnee reminding me of her own presence threw all that progress away.

I groaned and went back to try and read the book.

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**Vale – Beacon Academy – Orchid Hall**

Blake's golden eyes kept their gaze locked on her partner. She could have sworn she saw him enjoying himself when the two girls had approached him, and that had made Blake's heart feel better.

If it wasn't for Weiss Schnee, perhaps he would have spent more time with them, but of course, it had been too good to be the truth, still. That was proof that maybe everything would work out fine.

Maybe he didn't need her.

He would be fine on his own.

Blake just needed to repeat it enough times in her head until it began to sound real.

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**And that's the end of chapter 12! This is a very passive chapter, but it is mostly here to set up what's to come. Next episode, we get to see how Adam is going to fare in the dangerous Emerald Forest! **

**Now, this is the time where I would typically put a question of the chapter for you guys to answer in the reviews, but instead, I want to ask for a favor. **

**I would love it if you guys could recommend me some SIOC stories to read. I seem to have exhausted my list of favorite stories, but I'm craving for some more. It doesn't matter if it is from an anime, book, or whatever. It just has to be a SIOC, and I will give it a try. **

**And as always, remember to leave your opinion about my story in a review! Even a few words help elevate my mood, and I'm more than happy to discuss anything related to my work. ^^**

**Just be polite plz.**

**See you in the next chapter!**


	13. Log 13: Of Those I Will Cherish

**Warning: ****This work is rated T for a reason; there is Violence, Blood, Angst, and the mention of serious topics like racism and mental illness that merit this rating. This work of Fanfiction will never have any material that would send it over the edge to an M rating like Lemons or highly descriptive scenes of violence.**

**Salutations everybody!**

**Welcome to REwrite: Adam's thirteen Log! I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I loved writing it!**

**And as always, I do not own RWBY!**

**Enjoy!**

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**Volume 2**

**Log 13: Of Those I will Cherish**

**Vale – Beacon Academy – Locker Room**

Mystenaster was a unique weapon, the pride of the Schnee research and development department. It was considered a multi-action dust rapier, with a blade crafted with the highest quality of materials and built with top precision. The Mystenaster's ability to control and wield dust reached a point where it could have been considered more akin to using magic. The only weakness of the sword was the high consumption required to use it properly; without dust, Mystenaster became nothing more than a fancy blade.

Weiss Schnee rehearsed those words again in her head as she kept staring at Mysternaster, the blade rested inside of Weiss' personal rocket-propelled locker. Weiss was ready to leave, she only needed to grab her weapon, but she remained in place, hearing the conversations going on around her with avid interest.

At the edge of her vision were the two sisters from yesterday, Ruby and Yang. They were talking about team placements, and Weiss was still trying to think of an excellent way to turn around and join their conversation without appearing intrusive. She had heard last night that Ruby was a weapon's nerd, so maybe talking about Weiss' Mystenaster would work.

She sighed, knowing that it wouldn't.

And wasn't that just pathetic? Weiss had come all the way to Vale to start anew, meet new people, make friends for the first time in her life, and instead, she had found nothing but bratty children and people that seemed only to exist to make sure her life would be even worse!

She could have stayed at Atlas and live the same there if she had known Vale would be such a poor replacement. Weiss knew she was almost perfect. Her intelligence was unrivaled; her beauty unmatched, her personality was above the rest!

Yet when she got nervous, she got angry too…

The sisters would be mad at her and probably would ignore Weiss, she could cross them out of her list of possible teammates.

Weiss took her blade and attached it to her belt. She turned around, making a point not to even glance at the sisters before she went towards the exit.

If at least that rumor about Pyrrha Nikos coming to Vale had been truth… Weiss was sure they would have made the perfect team, but that famous ace had instead gone to Haven Academy in Mistral.

Oh, there was also the tall guy with the beret. Weiss saw he was sitting on a bench with his sword on his lap, she couldn't see his eyes because of the big, dark glasses he wore, but he appeared to be focused on checking his weapons.

She didn't know his name, but he appeared to be quite strong and probably a bit older? He could also be an excellent friend… no, Ally! She had meant to think that, not friends, of course.

He was scary yet quiet, he also seemed to dislike her family, but Weiss was sure if he got to know her, he would understand that she wasn't like that at all.

"Will all first-year student, please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation" Came professor Glynda's voice from the intercoms. "Again, All first-year…"

A smile crept upon Weiss' lips as she left the locker rooms.

Weiss Schnee would not fail. She would succeed in Beacon, become part of the most exceptional team the academy has ever had, and, more importantly.

She would have friends.

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**Vale – Beacon Academy – Beacon Cliff**

That was a cliff alright, the Emerald forest sprawled all over the horizon and way, way down below, the cliff was so high that the canopies of the trees were unrecognizable from a green blob and, oh, jolly, that was doing an incredibly bad thing to Jaune's fear of heights.

Jaune Arc, currently better known by some as 'Vomit boy' much to his displeasure, didn't do good with a lot of things. He was tense, just a tad nervous and… who was he kidding, he was beyond being anxious!

Nobody yet knew what the initiation would entail. Everyone was gathered near the cliff waiting for a few stragglers, which Jaune was quite proud of not being one of, while Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch stood apart from the students at the edge of the cliff overlooking the forest and talking to each other.

Jaune stood behind the sisters, Ruby and Yang, mostly tuned out of their strange conversation about ketchup while he did his best to try and calm down his poor, innocent nerves.

At least he didn't have to worry too much about finding a cute and quirky girl when the sisters fit the bill. He had tried to approach Weiss earlier, but she had all but ignored him, a couple of the other guys had laughed at him too, saying that she was way above Jaune's league because she was the heiress of… of… Jaune couldn't remember.

But she was a big shot.

But maybe he just needed to try harder? Jaune's dad always said girls liked confident men.

"All students," Professor Goodwitch called, her voice effortlessly coming through even though she wasn't shouting, and the wind here was strong enough to whistle on Jaune's ears. "At the edge of the cliff, you will see a line of pads, please pick one and stand on it."

"Looks like is gonna start," Ruby said as the three of them watched the crowd begin to move.

Yang clashed her fist and smirked. "Finally!"

Jaune gulped.

Ruby and Yang quickly went to find theirs at the very end of the line right next to a girl with long black hair and a bow, Jaune followed and was thankful when he saw that there was still one unoccupied pad to the right to the one Ruby got in.

There was one last pad to the left of the empty one Jaune was going for, and that one was occupied by a tall guy with red hair. Jaune stepped into his pad and glanced at the dude beside him.

He didn't know the guy's name, but he was taller than Jaune, wearing a black suit with a redshirt under the blazer, dark glasses, a black beret, and holding onto the sheath of a sword that was also quite longer than Jaune's.

Jaune recognized him. He was the guy that Ruby had talked about. Jaune smiled and waved at the guy to catch his attention and said, "Hey."

Jaune regretted it. Oh, he regretted it so much.

The red hair glanced at him, and even with those glasses, Jaune felt as if the guy was looking right at his brain and picking apart every dirty and embarrassing secret Jaune had. The guy turned away from Jaune and went back to look at the forest just as Jaune had almost screamed like a little girl.

Jaune knees were trembling, and his heartbeat had gone on overdrive. He had not met someone that could scare him that much before…

His mom didn't count…

Nor his dad…

Or grandpa…

Okay, Jaune got the point.

Jaune still promised himself he wouldn't go anywhere near the red-haired guy.

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**Vale – Beacon Academy – Beacon Cliff**

"For years, you have trained to become warriors…" Professor Ozpin said as he stood a meager foot away from the edge of the cliff, facing the group of students with his cup of coffee steaming on his hand. "And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Ruby soaked his words like a sponge, excitement burning up her blood. Finally, she would get to talk the way she wanted to, with her High Caliber Sniper rifle Scythe, Crescent Rose doing the talking!

She had to fight the big smile in her face from spreading so nobody would call her childish, and she would finally prove everyone she deserved to be here even if she was two years younger than everyone else.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignments of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion." Professor Goodwitch took her large scroll out from thin air for what Ruby could see, but she didn't care about that! Ruby anxiously awaited while Goodwitch continued talking. "Each of you will be given teammates… Today."

"What? No…" Ruby whined. Why did they have to make the teams so fast? She didn't like this.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone whom you can work well," Professor Ozpin said.

Ruby squeaked with discomfort. How was she supposed to know who she works well with so little time?

"That being said," Professor Ozpin continued with mischief glinting on his eyes. "The first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

The world broke apart for Ruby.

"What?!" she shouted loud enough to make those around her flinch, Yang smiled apologetically at her because she understood while Jaune appeared to be thinking he was being attacked by a monster.

This couldn't be happening!

But Professor Ozpin, even though he was standing so close to Ruby, didn't appear bothered by her outburst in the slightest and just went onto explain the initiation, "After you are partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest, you will contest with the Grimm along the way. Do not hesitate to eliminate them, or you will die."

Jaune gulped loudly beside Ruby, but she was still stuck trying to process the partners' thingy.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of the initiation," Professor Ozpin continued, "but our instructors won't intervene unless the situation turns mortal, at which case you will be automatically failed."

Jaune sighed with relief. "Oh, thank mercy. We don't actually get to die today."

Only Ruby appeared to have heard him since professor Ozpin continued talking as if he didn't hear Jaune, "You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics, each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff to succeed… Are there any question?"

Immediately Jaune rose his hand up, "Yeah, well, sir-"

"Good," Professor Ozpin interrupted him. "Now, take your positions and ready your landing strategies."

Okay, it was time to get super, mega serious now.

Ruby didn't have any more time to hesitate!

As the launching pads began to blastoff one student after another into the forest with a loud 'bang!' One by one, Ruby stole a glance around her.

Yang would be the perfect partner! but Ruby's older sister would probably be looking to pair up with one of her friends…

Bang!

Well, there was Jaune too…he was kinda nice, although he seemed rather clumsy and weak.

Bang!

Oh, oh, oh! Ruby could pair up with… wait.

Ruby quickly put her gaze on the tall red-haired guy that had saved her from the evil Weiss. Ruby never got to hear his name now that she remembered, darn it!

Bang! And there went Yang.

Ruby sighed but didn't let her heart go down. She was burning with passion, determination, awesomeness!

She would prove herself and show she was the most ultra-hiperfabulous…

Was that a word?

It didn't matter!

…Partner anyone would want!

Bang!

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**Vale – Emerald Forest – Below The Beacon Cliff**

Falling.

The wind biting at his cheeks, his green clothes flapping like broken wings, the green ocean coming faster and faster until he was swallowed by the canopies of the forest and came directly to the massives trunks of the trees of the Emerald Forest.

The ground was coming, but the huntsmen-in-training wasn't worried, from the sleeves of his green Mistralian coat came his weapons of choice, the StormFlowers. A pair of automatic pistols with vertical sickle blades under their barrels.

One of his blades stabbed deep into the bark of a tree, but his weight kept carrying him down, spiraling around the trunk until his feet landed safely on the grass beneath with not a drop of sweat on his forehead.

A successful landing.

Unless he counted his long dark hair all over his face for failure, his ponytail had become undone, and he brushed it aside with his wrist, seeing as that did nothing to improve the situation the huntsmen-in-training collapsed his weapons back inside his sleeves and went to work on his hair.

With his low ponytail back in order, he finally allowed himself the time to concentrate on what to do next. Had he been anyone else, he would have focused on moving toward the objective to accomplish the test.

Finding a partner would have come along the way, and he would have been agreeable with any.

But he was Lie Ren.

And that meant that he was already compromised. Going toward the temple for the relics would most likely put him where he would accidentally cross path with one of his comrades before he found his best friend.

Which would undoubtedly put her in one of her dangerous moods, which he wanted to avoid at all costs. Now to wonder… what was the animal call that she had decided on at the end?

Oh right.

"I wonder how sloths sound…" Ren mused with the hints of a grin pulling on the edges of his lips. It wouldn't do him any good to stand around and think about it. He would figure out the answer once he found her and heard her interpretation of a sloth's call himself.

He only hoped Nora didn't make sloths sound too weird.

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**Vale – Emerald Forest – Branches of a Tree**

A girl sat on a low branch of one of the smallest yet thickest trees in the forest, her legs swinging side to side with the leaves and the twigs pinching the pale skin of her hips in a way that made her feel ticklish.

She was humming, the huntress-in-training had absolutely no idea where had she heard that melody, but it was catchy, and it was fun, so of course, it was needed. Her short and spiky orange hair hopped and hopped some more as she bopped her head side to side.

Most of the time, those few that knew her wouldn't call her a patient person.

But right now, Nora Valkyrie was perfectly prepared to be patient.

At least a little bit.

Maybe half an hour.

Fifteen minutes.

She gazed at the clear below her. It was big and shaped almost like a square, Nora could see all around her tree and would be able to spot anyone coming her way before they saw her hiding in the tree's leaves.

Cozy spot with a good view? Check.

Nora felt the bulge of the bag of chips where she had strapped it to her thigh under her pink skirt. There were also the three granola bars inside her bra. Oh! She inspected her beloved Magnhild, a transformable two-handed hammer capable of turning into a grenade launcher. Her weapon was currently in its grenade launcher form, and she opened the revolver cylinder and smiled.

Her weapon was loaded with five out of the six grenades it could carry, but the sixth chamber wasn't empty, oh, no, no, no.

Nora pulled out the can of refried beans, her mouth-watering over the prospect of having a third breakfast.

Snacks to last her for the initiation? Check.

Nora needed only to wait here and pass the time until Ren came around, then she would alert him of her presence by using the extraordinarily secret and unique call of the ancient and mystical sloths of modern mistral that were not really ancient because she saw a picture of a cute one on her scroll last night, which only made it even more impressive.

Obviously.

Her musings were interrupted when she noticed someone approaching. She heard more than saw them, quiet footsteps just below her tree. Well, Nora guessed there wouldn't be any time for a third breakfast now that Ren had gotten here.

She poked her head to investigate.

That wasn't Ren.

Unless he was into black berets all of a sudden…

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**Vale – Emerald Forest – Left Shore Of A River**

Well, this 'initiation' was undoubtedly a disappointment so far…

"Ruby!" Yang shouted for the third time. Hearing no reply of any kind, she pouted and groaned before pushing her way through another bush.

Yang had been walking around for the last five minutes. With no sign of people, Grimm or her sister. She had expected things would be pretty cool from the start, but the forest wasn't having any of that it seemed. Yang was left with nothing else than boredom, which generally also led to overthinking.

Yang made a cone out of her hand and pulled it close to her lips before she shouted one more time, "Rube Rub, little sister? Where are you!"

Yang wasn't one to act like she worried about things; she had a reputation to uphold. But here alone in the forest, she wouldn't deny to herself that she didn't like this situation one bit. Her little sister was only fifteen, two years younger than Yang, and although she knew her little sister was a good fighter and could take care of herself in here…

Yang still worried.

For very different reasons.

Ruby wasn't good with people.

Yang knew just how shy her little sister was and a shy Ruby was also a distracted Ruby, and a distracted Ruby in a forest full of Grimm was something that terrified the older sister way more than she would ever admit to anyone she didn't beat the crap out off right after 'til they couldn't remember their own names.

She wanted Ruby to find friends and meet people and learn to cooperate with others but for all of that to happen Yang first had to make sure her little sister got out of this place in one piece, so although Yang wouldn't mind getting one of her friends or even a new person to party up with her for her final team composition.

Yang hoped she could partner up with Ruby first.

Yang shouted again as she leaped over the roots of a tree, "Ruby!"

"Hey!"

A guy's voice startled her. It was slightly familiar and had come from above. Yang looked up but saw nothing at first, before a pair of shoes connected to blue jeans poked out of the leaves of the tree.

"Is someone down there?" screamed the guy again… Yang squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look, but the branches and leaves of the tree didn't show anything else than the lower part of the boy's legs.

But that voice… Yang remembered!

"Vomit boy?" she called out.

"Yang!" Vomit boy called out her name with pure joy in his voice, his legs kicking in the air with excitement. "Thank the gods you are here. I have been stuck on this tree for so long! And by the way, the name is Jaune. Thank you."

Yang chuckled with a smirk. It seemed vomit… Jaune was a magnet for trouble. "What are you doing up there?" she asked while walking around the tree in the hopes of getting a better look at vo… Jaune.

"That is… kind of an awkward story," Jaune replied, his shoes pointing downward as if they were disappointed with their owner.

"Tell me!" Yang's smile could be felt right in her voice. She inspected the trunk of the tree with a closer look, getting her nose close to it before she tapped it with her knuckles twice.

"Well… when I was fall- I mean, doing my landing strategy, I was about to di- I mean, land wrong when this black-haired girl with a bow caught me in the air and threw me at this tree instead, and I kinda got stuck in the branches?" the last bit came out of vomit… Jaune, like if it was a question, it made Yang arch an eyebrow as she looked up to his legs with her hands on her waist.

"Yikes! I can't believe someone could be that mean," Yang responded, feeling a tad irritated with whoever the girl with a bow was. They had come to Beacon to become huntresses and help people while being cool, right? leaving him up there like a poor kitty didn't sound friendly to Yang, and she was not going to leave poor vomit boy… Jaune stuck.

"Don't worry, I will get you down!" she shouted and prepared, getting into position and pulling her fist back with a dangerous toothy grin in her face.

She just had to hit it right…

"Actually, she kinda helped me out…" vomit… Jaune was saying, but his words fell on deaf ears while Yang was aiming for just the right perfect spot in…

There!

"Ah!" Jaune shouted as the tree shook with the force of an earthquake that dislodged him from the branches. Gravity took hold of him, and he fell, breaking more sticks on his way down that slapped him in the face harder than his mother ever did before finally crashing into a bush beside Yang with his head first, his legs now sticking up above and twitching a little.

"You okay there?" Yang asked while she heard the boy groan.

Jaune righted himself and got up with a few leaves on his hair. He brushed them away and walked out of the bush, his cheek was prickling a little, and Jaune touched it to find a scratch on his face. It was a bit annoying, but nothing more.

"Yeah," He said when he noticed Yang was still waiting for his answer with her arms crossed and a curious smile on her face, "just a scratch."

"Why didn't you have your aura active, silly." Yang teased him.

Jaune couldn't do more than look at her puzzled. "The what now?"

Yang lost her smile. "Wait… you got no idea what I'm talking about?"

She sounded so surprised that Jaune got nervous and took a step back into the bush he had just gotten out of. "Eh, oh no, no. I do totally do know! I was just… testing you!" he said with all the confidence he didn't feel before pointing the finger at her and asking, "do you know what an aura is?"

Yang chuckled. She was utterly surprised someone had gotten this far without knowing what an aura was, but she had seen weirder things before. Since this guy seemed like he was going to be her partner now, Yang didn't mind giving him a hand. "Don't worry, Vomit boy…"

"Jaune," he said, but she kept going as if he had not said a thing.

"… My uncle taught me a sure way to activate anyone's aura in an instant!" A feral smile came over her lips as she took a step toward him. She cracked her knuckles. "Just try not to scream too loud, okay?"

Jaune gulped. "Scream?"

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**Vale – Emerald Forest – Square Clearing**

If that scream was anything to go by, some girl had gotten caught by the Grimm. She didn't sound like Blake.

One less human then.

I didn't expect that to have been the Schnee girl, but the thought alone helped improve my mood considerably, I knew that if Blake could hear my thoughts, she wouldn't have been happy but a man had to find any source of enjoyment when the situation was as dreadfully monotone as mine was.

Around me the trees danced slightly with the breeze, I was in a square-like clear that only had a few young trees here and there inside it. I was standing below one in particular, where I knew a human was hiding in.

The glance I stole of the orange-haired girl told me I didn't know her, but what was important to me is that she was happy to ignore me as she kept herself up the branches, and I was content to indulge her with that. We were both probably already set on who our partners were to be, and I didn't have any reason to waste my time on another human while I still had to find Blake.

I clenched my scabbard and went forward leisurely. I would go through the clear and most likely get up on the trees to find a vantage point from where to look for Blake without having to risk being seen myself.

I smirked. Thank you, random human girl, I would steal your idea. I wished the orange-haired girl good luck under my breath.

With the wind caressing the leaves of the trees, I couldn't deny the green forest was a beautiful sight even up close, it felt natural, real. Much more tranquil and peaceful than the Forever Fall forest and its crimson hues.

But something was wrong.

I stopped when my shoe landed on something that was clearly not grass. A white bony formation peaked out from the ground, looking almost like a malformed car plaque with some red linings on it as if a child had assaulted it with a marker…

The dirt beneath my feet slowly moved upward.

The ground breathed.

Realization hit.

Too late.

"Shit!"

The earth imploded.

Man-sized hunks of mud and grass flew everywhere, taking me with them. A cloud of dust and mist enveloped the new hole in the ground, and from it, a pair of crimson eyes stared back at me with hunger tainting their very existence.

The eyes approached.

Hunger chased me from the smoke, a looming shadow inside it.

I unsheathed my sword halfway.

A fang larger than my sword crashed against the edge of my blade, the impact clearing the dust around us to showcase the massive black head of a snake with crimson eyes and bony protrusions on its head.

The Grimm had come.

The snake carried me upwards in the air, its jaws wide open, and its starved tongue already tasting my sweat as we went higher and higher over the canopies of the forest before gravity reclaimed us.

I felt the pressure on my blade recede, the Grimm's massive weight pulling it down before me, but I wouldn't let it go.

I pulled the trigger.

A fire ignited on my blade, kissing its edge as I held tight to its hilt and cleaved the fang clean off the creature's mouth, leaving the path clear to the insides of its maw.

The creature howled in rage, pain… hunger.

I aimed Blush to the sky.

I would feed the beast.

I pulled the trigger.

And the void swallowed me whole.

I held to the hilt of my blade as the darkness surrounded me, I stabbed to the side, and the edge bit deep into the creature's meat, cutting and bringing forth the light of the outside as I continued carving my way down to hell.

Black blood-like ichor fell on my aura and made it fizzle over my clothes, yet the pained shrieks of the Grimm kept the feral smile on my face.

The beast flesh was hard, its blood thick like molasses. The fire in my blade was dying out, and the power cutting was diminishing enough that it snapped me out of my joyous frenzy, and I aimed my legs against the innards of the snake to kick and push myself out through the wound and into the light of the world.

I was still far from the ground. I turned once in the air before I fell to the dirt, I landed on a knee and rolled away to weaken the impact before I came out standing with my back facing the dying Grimm.

I shook my blade once. The black blood on it fell and painted the evergreen grass below before I went to sheath it and go on my merry way to find Blake.

The wind tickled my cheek.

I lost my smile.

The Grimm's black snake's head kissed the edge of my vision.

I aimed the tip of my sword at it, but I couldn't dodge. In a second, I felt my blade plunge up to the hilt into the creature's eye before the head crashed on my side and launched me sideways like a bat to a baseball.

I lost the grip on my sword but held dearly to my sheath, I pointed it behind me and fired to stop my momentum just before I crashed against the trunk of a tree. The bullet shattered a hole into the wood that softened the impact on my shoulder.

"I thought you were dead…" the words escaped the smile that returned to my lips. Even with all my years living in Remnant, this was the first time I had seen a Grimm larger than a boar.

Those died so quickly…

One could almost kill them by just looking at them…

But this thing…

Oh, I liked this thing.

The snake Grimm was coiling onto itself, but I arched an eyebrow, puzzled at seeing that its head was laying flatly on the ground and looking very much dead with the hilt of my sword sticking out of one of its eyes while the other lay half open and with the light inside it all but extinguished.

The confusion bled out of me when another snakehead, white like snow raised from the center of the coils, it didn't take much before I noticed how the beast didn't have an actual tail at its end.

"That's how you are still alive?" I asked the Grimm. I chuckled, knowing that it couldn't answer me but watching the creature hiss at me with its white head for an answer.

The dead black head moved, following the coils of the snake as it twisted further into itself. The creature didn't have a tail because both of its ends were the heads. One black like the night, the other white like the flashing light.

One had my sword.

The other stared hungrily at me.

My grasp on Blush tightened. My finger coiling over the trigger and ready when a stray thought wandered over the top of my mind. I had promised Blake and myself that I wouldn't kill, that I would become better.

But murdering a man, butchering an innocent Faunus even, none of those things compared to killing a Grimm, to cut the head of a Grimm was akin to the people of Remnant to curing a disease that plagued the world.

I could feel it, the realization digging its claws in my skin, pouring molten lava inside my veins, tugging my lips into a feral smile, and shooting hot mist out of my clenched teeth. I pointed my rifle at the creature who seemed content with watching me.

"I can kill you," I told it.

The beast elevated its head, a harrowing shriek coming out of it like a challenge before it pointed back at me with its crimson eyes already savoring me from afar. The Grimm's head rushed at me through the ground, pulling dirt and dust around itself like a cloud that hid all of it but its red eyes as it grew closer.

Closer.

Closer.

And stopped.

The snake's head was dragged by its momentum just enough that its snout poked the tip of my rifle, which I still held ready. The thing wasn't moving anymore, wasn't breathing either. The light in its eyes quickly fading away.

And as the dust cloud around it cleared.

A figure stood above its head.

Something bit into my stomach, a feeling of resentment that I squashed down, I was slightly miffed that she would steal my kill, even more now that I understood that killing Grimm could become the perfect getaway for my thirst. But it didn't matter. There would be more Grimm in the future.

She stood there with the light of the sun pouring around her. A cheeky smile on her lips and amusement bright in her eyes. She opened her mouth, and only a sardonic comment came out that made me chuckle.

"Hello There."

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**gEnErAl KeNoByyyYyYy! **

**I like me my Star Wars References, please don't judge. **

**This is the first chapter of the mini-saga of the Emerald Forest! And also, my first try at making multiple points of view with distinct personalities. It was pretty hard and scary to write that way X_X **

**Hopefully, you guys liked it.**

**As you may have also noticed, the tone of the story is becoming a little bit lighter with less drama and angst. The rest of this season will probably follow the more light-hearted vibe, because although I am a sucker for drama, I don't think having it always in your face with no respite is fun. **

**One thing I hope this chapter proves is that, there won't be any more OCs, Adam won't join an OC team but one of the canon ones… the question is… which one? I put a lot of clues and red herrings in this chapter, and although I have already decided on the final team rosters I'm very curious to know. **

**Who do you think would be the best teammates for Adam? **

**Also, what do you think Adam's new name is? O.o**


	14. An Update About Updates

**An update About Updates**

**Hello everyone, I'm sorry for the silence throughout this time. As you all know, Corona Virus has been messing around with all of us, and it sadly robbed me of most of the free time I expected to use writing my works.**

**My family runs a small restaurant that was heavily impacted by COVID-19. My parents had to lay off most of the employees and put my sister and me to work. I also sadly have to admit that I'm a bit of a natural idiot, and when my high school switched to online classes, I ended up struggling a lot more than I expected.**

**I never planned, nor do I have any plans on ever discontinuing any of my work unless I get struck by lightning and die on the spot (a bit dramatic but heck I needed a chuckle.) but these circumstances have kept me trying to catch up with life and no time to spare.**

**Things are slowly turning back to normal with summer vacations and business coming back to life, and thanks to that, I have recovered a little of my "me" time, which I am using to start writing again.**

**I won't promise on a date yet, but at least I can assure you I am writing the next chapters of both of my works and will try to have them up soon.**

**I'm sorry for the trouble and thank you for your patience.**

**I will be deleting this message when the next chapter appears. **

**Remember to stay safe and wear a mask, UninstallME out.**


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